The Hidden Prodigy
by shadowkitsune-sama
Summary: Somehow sent back into the past, Kakashi is given a second chance to relive his childhood. He is determined to make the most of everyday and to fix the horrors of the future, but sometimes, simple determination is not enough to save everyone. Despite so, Kakashi promises to never stop trying. Time-travel.
1. Retry (Part One)

_A/n: So, a year-and-a-half after I started this story, I finally feel like I have enough chapters pre-written that will let me be able to update this fic once a week! So expect an update every friday(?) except this first week because it makes me happy to post on Christmas day. :D_

_I suspect people are going to be asking me about whether or not I will take account of the Tobi-Obitio revelation. Yes, I will, but with a slight twist (and that's all the spoilers your getting from me about this particular topic)._

_So, without further ado... _

**The Hidden Prodigy**

_PART ONE  
Chapter 1: Retry_

* * *

Kakashi immediately knew something was wrong when he realized he was not in his little apartment. The mattress he was lying on was too soft, and the air was lacking that distinctive smell of wet dog his ninken produced. There was also someone walking nearby – not someone he could recognize immediately. When Kakashi tried to discretely pull out his weapons, they were nowhere to be found.

The jounin feigned sleep, feeling footsteps echoing closer and closer to the bed he was lying on. He could feel the warmth as a hand slide close to his face. When the hand touched him, Kakashi bit down. Hard.

His eyes snapped open as he leaped into a defensive form. He saw long silver hair swing back as the figure before him clutched his hand with a grimacing smile.

Kakashi froze, eyeing the man before him. And then, he looked down at himself. It was a wonder he hadn't fainted in shock yet.

"Ow! Trying to catch me off guard again, Kakashi? You bite hard for a five-year-old!"

Kakashi swayed dangerously. Yes, it was _really_ a wonder he hadn't fainted yet.

"Are you feeling okay? Did you catch a cold?" The man reached for his forehead causing the jounin – or rather the _kid_, seeing as he was freaking five again – to flinch back at the movement.

"Kakashi, what's wrong?"

Kakashi lick his dry lips, trying to grasp the situation. _What was going on?_ "I-" the boy forced out his first words, "father?"

The older man gave him a confused stare. "Yeah? Really, Kakashi, what's the matter? You seem a little out of it today."

The world tilted oddly for a second before Kakashi tried to focus once more. "I- it's- I don't feel really well," he lied.

Sakumo Hatake, Kakashi's father, studied his son intently. "Maybe you should lie down for a while. I told you you shouldn't have trained so much yesterday. You aren't even attending the academy yet."

Kakashi shook his head, clearing it from the daze he was in. "Yeah, sure." He sat down on his bed. "Do you mind?" he raised an eyebrow at the man, trying to act normal.

The man gave a gruff laugh, "Yeah, yeah, only five and already trying to get rid of me." He headed for the door. "I'll come back with some food later, alright kid? You just get more rest."

Kakashi nodded numbly settling back down on the bed. The minute his father left, he jumped straight back up again.

_What the hell was going on?_

The thought "_genjutsu_" immediately jumped to mind, but even before his shout of "_Kai"_, Kakashi knew that wasn't it. His old bedroom was too perfect for this to be someone's illusion. He'd left this place when he was six, bordering seven. No one knew him well back then. Not well enough to be able to replicate his room to such perfection.

But was it real?

Turning his search internally, Kakashi could tell that at least everything in the _future_ hadn't been a dream. His chakra had increased; it was much higher than what he dimly recalled to have when he was five. His chakra control was also as it had been as he last remembered it as Jounin. Unless he'd been training in his sleep, everything he remembered _had_ happened. Or at least was _going_ to happen.

But why was he here in the … _past_?

Kakashi hopped off his bed, grabbing his mask along the way. He padded quietly out of his room, holding his chakra tightly. If this _was real_… he didn't want anyone realising anything was wrong if they ever decided to check. A kid suddenly increasing his chakra reserves overnight was definitely not normal.

The masked boy walked slowly, eyes observing and remembering everything around him. It'd been twenty years (give or take) since he'd step foot into this house, yet he could still vividly remember where everything was.

Kakashi strolled into the kitchen. His father turned, hearing his little footsteps nearing. "Didn't I tell you to go back to bed?" the man asked gently.

Sakumo Hatake's face was exactly as Kakashi remembered it. His long silver hair was tied into a low ponytail. His face and built, though similar to Kakashi's, was more rigid and sturdy; more masculine. It was –

"Kakashi?"

The boy took tiny steps towards the other man, as if running would break the illusion of his father. Sakumo could see a heart-wrenching stare from his son, and it rooted him in place.

"Kakashi?" the father asked again, at a loss of what to say. His son had always seemed so independent, mature, superior. Seeing him like this was like twisting a knife in his heart. He really didn't know his son at all, did he? And now his precious Kakashi was seemingly suffering from his neglect.

Kakashi stood in front of his father for god-knows how long. He couldn't help but stare and burn that face into his memory. Just how long had it been?

Kakashi could see his own pale arms lifting up on their own accord. They wrapped around his father. Instinctively, the little boy leaned his head into the man's chest. He took a deep breath.

The scent of Sakumo - of his father. How long had it been since he's smelt it? It had been long – too long. For years, after accepting his old man's death, he'd had nothing but a faint memory to remember his family with.

And now, here he was, in front of him! _In his arms!_

It wasn't until Kakashi felt his father patting him on the head that he realized he had broken down crying. Tears stained his face, and Kakashi was too happy to care.

"Father." No, that word was too impersonal. When did he start calling Sakumo that? "Dad," the silver-haired man-turned-boy whispered out, almost even too quiet for him to hear. "Daddy."

And the tears never stopped falling.

How was he in the past? Kakashi couldn't care less about that question anymore. He _was_ in the past and that was all that mattered. And he would make sure _this_ lifetime's worth of memories was better than the last.

With that thought in mind, Kakashi held on to his chakra tighter than ever, determined not to give anything away – not before he could change everything for the better. And in his arms, he refused to let his father go.


	2. Promise

_A/N: So, guess what? I've (finally) finished part I of this fic. The Hidden Prodigy is written in four parts (with ambiguous borders). Honestly, you don't need to know too much about that since it doesn't bother you readers too much (it's mainly for my organisation's sake), but I just thought you might be interested to know. :)_

_So anyways, here's another update. And also thank you for all who'd reviewed, faved, or followed. I didn't think this fic would get so much response!_

_Chapter 2: Promise_

* * *

Sakumo Hatake was not a born genius. He was a strong shinobi, earning his role and status through hard work and dedication. At an early age, however, he realized that his son, Kakashi, _was_ in fact, a certified genius. The boy could throw a kunai just as well as any genin, and he had only been four at the time. Kakashi had skills beyond measurable for someone his age. His strategy was beyond his age. And don't get him started on intelligence. He was, in one word, a prodigy.

Kakashi himself realized this at an early age, just as quickly as his father had. Perhaps it was then (Sakumo honestly couldn't remember), that Kakashi started to act like – and Sakumo started to treat him like – an adult. It was such a smooth, subtle transition that Sakumo never realized what he was doing.

Just when had Kakashi start calling him "father" instead of "dad"? Just when did he think it was fine to let Kakashi go out training on his own without supervision? Just when had he assumed his precious son would be fine on his own while he was out on a mission? Just when did he start to fail as a father?

Kakashi's sudden illness (he used to never make a peep even when he was sick), and cry of "daddy" in that childish voice of his, slammed Sakumo back to earth head first. His head spun and spiraled, at the realization that Kakashi was still, in fact, five – no matter how he acted.

He'd never considered himself to be the perfect father. Heck, he hadn't even expected to have to raise his son without his dear wife helping him along the way. But he'd never thought that he'd do so badly either.

Treating a five year old (his own son, no less) like a fellow shinobi? What would his wife say to him? How could he have never realized? Why had Kakashi never complained about it?

"D-dad?" The little boy questioned, voice cracking.

_He sounded so delicate._ "I'm – I'm so sorry, son," Sakumo murmured out into his son's unruly silver hair.

His son seemed to freeze at that before slowly relaxing again. Feeling Kakashi snuggling in closer to him (how long had it been since he'd last done that?) was enough to reduce the great Sakumo Hatake, White Fang of Konoha, into tears. Just imagine how his son would've turned out if he never realized his neglect.

He couldn't dare to imagine it.

Kakashi clung to him that day like he would disappear any second. Once the crying was under control, the little boy had looked at him with such determination in his eyes. "It won't happen again, I promise," Kakashi had whispered quietly to himself, promise in his eyes.

Sakumo knew most likely he wasn't supposed to hear that silent vow, but he did nevertheless. It outraged him to no end.

"It won't happen again?" he repeated, earning a surprised glance from his son. Sakumo presumed Kakashi was talking about his childish outburst. Did Kakashi really think it bothered him so much? Just what kind of father had he been all this time?

"We are shinobi of Konoha, Protectors of Konoha, soldiers for the sake of our friends, family, rivals, and villagers. We are not tools. We have emotions and feelings. That is how we can protect and survive." He grabbed Kakashi's shoulders, forcing his son to look him in the eye. "Crying is fine no matter how old you are. It is nothing to be ashamed of. Feeling someone's love shows you you're still alive. And you, Kakashi," The older man kneeled down by his son, "You are not even a shinobi yet. So don't –" he didn't even know how to explain it, "don't lose something like this. Don't lose your love, your care. Don't lose it before you're even old enough to recognize just how precious it is."

There was flicker of _something_ in his son's eyes. It was mirth (perhaps he'd misunderstood Kakashi's comment), then understanding – understanding so deep that Sakumo almost forgot for a second that he was just talking to his son, and not a seasoned shinobi.

It broke his heart yet again to see that Kakashi, his son, his precious five-year-old, was able to comprehend something so deep.

And then at that moment, he swore an oath to himself. He _would_ become a proper father, and he _would_ treat Kakashi according to his age, whether the boy liked it or not. No matter what it took, he'd make sure Kakashi would be able to act like the child he was. And all he hoped for was that his previous actions had not done Kakashi any mental harm yet.

And if it had, Sakumo swore he would be by his son all the way.


	3. Perspective

_A/n: I apologize for the short chapter, but it's a necessary transition chapter. Next week will be (marginally) longer._

_Chapter 3: Perspective_

* * *

Kakashi was content to say that he had only ever broken down three times in his life. Once when Obitio died, once when Minato-sensei died, and Rin… he didn't want to think about that.

As for his own father's death, Kakashi had been too numb at the blood (oh so much blood) and the idea that his father took his _own_ life that he'd felt nothing of it. By the time the numbing spell wore off, he was too angry and bitter at the man to care.

On the _very first day_ of his time-travelling adventure, however, Kakashi was embarrassed to admit he had his fourth break down of his life. And honestly, he'd never expected to ever break down because of _happiness_ of all things.

But frankly, it was a nice change.

**x**

His father had changed. Or maybe because he was older, Kakashi was seeing him from a different perspective.

Kakashi remembered his past. He wouldn't have said his had father ignored him, but they were certainly distant from one another. Sakumo took missions and took quite a few, considering his strength as one of Konoha's strongest shinobi. The two of them hardly spent much time together – either one was on a mission, or the other was out training by himself. Suffice to say, their time together was even less once Kakashi started the academy. He was at school any time his father had a day off, and asleep or doing homework whenever he came home from a mission.

They'd grown so far apart so quickly, and the Kakashi of that time once even thought that perhaps his own father hated him, his company, and his presence. It sure felt like it at the time. Sakumo killing himself off sure didn't help his doubting heart.

But now, for some odd reason (it wasn't his fault, honestly! All Kakashi did differently than usual (and it was just a _single_ thing!) was hugging his dad!), Sakumo decided it was due time to take a short leave from all the missions. And instead of relaxing, what better to do but spend all that time with his one and only son?

Honestly, Kakashi didn't know how he'd caused that sudden change from the original timeline. He wasn't even _trying_ to change the past yet.

But the idea that his dad wanted to spend time with him, Kakashi was happy to admit, made his chest bubble in excitement and glee. He was glad he'd been right that his dad loved him. And no matter how old mentally he was, he ached to spend his time with his father too.

**.x.x.**

As for Sakumo Hatake… Sakumo had a dilemma. He didn't know what he was supposed to do.

He'd never been a _proper_ father. Maybe a father_ figure_ (Kakashi used to loved pretending to be a strong shinobi like himself), but not a father.

Even _if_ his son was a prodigy, it didn't seem appropriate to go training with him every day. Even if it was good bonding, enjoyable, really, he was certain his late wife would not approve.

Just what did kids Kakashi's age do for fun, anyways?

He was determined to make things right with his son, and goddammit, he'd do it the right way! Anything to make his darling Kakashi smile.

And if he was being honest to himself, anything to make that horrid, heart-wrenching expressing he'd fleetingly seen on his little boy's face never ever appear again.


	4. Habit

_A/N: Thank you everyone for your reviews! They keep me all warm and fluffy inside for the winter snow XD  
_

_Anyways, speaking of reviews, EACade mentioned that the chapters are quite short. Yeah, I admit some of them are short. And even the longer ones like this chap, are not all that long either (at least compared to my other fics). But personally, I like the pacing when the chapters aren't as long. But maybe that's just me..._

_Chapter 4: Habit_

* * *

After running through several ideas of what Sakumo thought kids would enjoy doing with their fathers and coming up short, Sakumo finally ended up deciding to go to the field for some training with Kakashi.

Kakashi liked training, so that had to count for something, right?

The famed White Fang knew his son – or at least thought he did – and that's why he grew confused when Kakashi's little face twitched into a quick frown before forming the energetic smile he'd expected. Kakashi _loved_ training more than anything. There was no reason he would frown at the idea – nor had he ever had.

"Hey, kid," Sakumo finally called out.

His son looked curiously over at him, eyes reflecting nothing but excitement. Not for the first time Sakumo wondered if his son was really good at hiding his thoughts, or he was just imagining things again.

"Yeah?"

Sakumo studied the boy, and yet despite the intense scrutiny he was under, the little boy neither twitched nor looked away. It was… "Are you _sure_ you're fine, Kakashi?" he man asked for what might have been the tenth time that week. "Lately you've been acting a bit…" _Unusual? Bipolar? Mature? Angsty? Secretive? _"…different than usual." Sakumo ended lamely.

Kakashi looked away. "I'm not a little kid anymore, you know." the boy said, scuffing his sandals on the ground. "I have to act my age."

His son refused to meet his eyes. Sakumo found himself wondering if that really was the problem. Sure Kakashi was more mature on occasions, but then suddenly in a blink, Kakashi would be acting like the five-year-old he was. And then the next thing he knew, mature Kakashi was back. It was like the little boy didn't know _how_ he was supposed to act.

It was disconcerting, to say the least.

With a half-hidden sigh, the silver-haired man ushered his son into the training field. Hopefully, training would work as a stress-reliever or a _whatever_-reliever for whatever it was that was bothering Kakashi.

Sakumo walked to the middle of the field, watching as his son followed after him. "It's been a while since we've sparred," he commented. Kakashi nodded quietly, doing a couple quick stretches. Sakumo continued, "So, taijutsu match then? With weapons?"

The masked boy shrugged, slipping into his stance along with his father. Suddenly he was standing straight up again, hand scratching his silver hair. "Aaa… bathroom break." He muttered.

Sakumo's eyebrows rose. "We haven't even started yet!"

With a nervous chuckle, Kakashi ran off, waving his hand over his shoulder. The older Hatake stared after him in amusement. "Maybe _that _was what was wrong with him the whole time." he wondered. He sat down, waiting for his son to come back.

Distances away, Kakashi slipped behind a tree. His fingers drew into a familiar cross. "_Kagebushin no jutsu."_ he murmured softly. Three shadow clones – the most he could produce without seriously draining himself - poofed into existence. The boy glanced over at them with a nod, quickly ordering them away. "Get in a _Henge_, and out of the area in case dad manages to sense any of you. Go train or something," he ordered. They nodded and quickly leaped away, keeping to the shadows of the trees.

As they left, Kakashi let out a sigh in relief. He was glad he caught himself in time.

Training or not, Kakashi was certain that eventually, he would forget to keep himself in check and let his chakra all out. At least now, he would be able to make sure that even if that happened, his dad wouldn't see how much chakra he _really_ had. Shadow Clones, after all, took a lot out of you.

Jumping back towards his father, Kakashi hopped down in front of him, chipper smile on face. "Ready!" he said, sliding back into his stance as he watched his father stand up.

Sakumo stared at the boy. _Maybe bipolar _was_ a better description,_ he mused, sliding into stance himself. He stored the thought to the corner of his mind as he gave a quick nod to his son. "Let's go." he said. He would dwell on these matters later. Now was the spar.

And with that, they leaped at each other.

**x**

Kakashi's legs swept across the ground around him as kunais flew from his hands. There was no way Sakumo could avoid the attack without breaking out of his forwards charge towards Kakashi – or at least that would've happened if the leg swipe had actually _reached_.

With a quick eyebrow raised at Kakashi's actions, Sakumo ducked under the flying kunais as he continued charging at his son. Kakashi instantly threw himself backwards in a flip, as he used his hands to propel himself onto the side of a tree.

Sakumo, however, was ready for his escape. Shuriken pounded the tree where Kakashi was – or _had_ been, a moment earlier. The boy had already pushed himself off, and disappeared into the forest behind him.

Sakumo grinned. "Come out! You can't hide from me!" he called out. For a second, it unnerved the man that he couldn't find his son's chakra anywhere in the training grounds. The word '_prodigy'_ jumped to his brain, but before he could dwell on it, his attention was jerked away by the sudden chill he felt from behind.

Sakumo ducked, tips of his long silver hair tugging as it caught Kakashi's flying kick. He spun quickly, grabbing the kid out of mid-air. Small feet kicked as the boy struggled in his arms. Kakashi's smile never faded, even as his father shook him.

"Give up?" the older man grinned. Instincts suddenly screamed '_danger!' _at him. Where could… – his hair!

Sakumo threw Kakashi aside as he turned quickly; grasping the ends of his tied silver hair. Explosive tags stuck to the tips, about to activate. The man swore, wondering when Kakashi had the time to stick it on so quickly, before stabbing them out and throwing them away.

The moment the tags left his fingers, he could feel Kakashi's presence in front of him again. Sakumo knew his son was quick. He also knew with his own twisted position, he couldn't dodge whatever the boy was going to land on him.

The man clenched his teeth, and tried to position himself to receive the least amount of damage. Sure the kid was little, but boy could he punch, Sakumo knew. The boy probably had an anatomy diagram of the human body glued to his brain because he never failed to strike where it hurt most.

That's why when the blow never came, Sakumo was greatly surprised.

The Hatake turned sharply, just in time to see his son retract his arm. An arm that had been a _foot_ away from his chest. A _foot_ away!

Sakumo quickly dismissed the thought as Kakashi charged up to him again, running on fours with the help of his hand, as though he was trying to keep himself from stumbling on his feet. The man flipped the boy just as quickly, landing a blow as he did so. Large grey-blue eyes narrowed somewhat childishly into a glare.

The White Fang smirked. "Tired yet?"

His mask stretched as Kakashi grinned. "Nope." And with moves quicker than Sakumo remembered, Kakashi rushed at him, weaving though the older man's attacks like it was ingrained into his instincts, if not inelegantly, and thrust an arm at him, aiming for Sakumo's chin. Had it hit, Sakumo would've been disorientated long enough for Kakashi to land another blow in. – _Had _it hit.

Sakumo frowned at his son as it happened once more. "Okay, stop, stop," Sakumo ordered.

Kakashi skid to a halt. "What?" he grumbled.

There was no amusement in Sakumo's eyes. The man stared intently at his son before finally gesturing the boy to come over. "Alright, Kakashi." he said strictly, "What's going on?" His voice held no room for arguments or evasion of the question.

Kakashi tried nevertheless. "What 'what'?" he asked innocently.

"Why are you fighting like that?"

"Like what?" the masked boy tried again.

His response made his father frown even harder. "You know exactly what I'm talking about, kid." he lectured, "Why are you fighting like you think you're a foot taller than you really are?"

The boy paused. "Habit?"

Unamused, Sakumo glowered at his son. "Try again."

"No, really." Kakashi explained. He waved his hand above his head, looking as innocent as he could be. "You see, I had this dream where I was taller and fighting enemy-nin. And now it's become a habit to fight like that."

The man rolled his eyes, but they soften as he glanced down at his son once more. He gently held up his hand to Kakashi's forehead. "Funny," he responded, "but dreams don't do that to people, no matter how intense they were." And there didn't seem to be anything wrong with Kakashi either – no cold, no fever.

Two pale hands clasped over his larger hand, pulling it down from his face. Clutching them, Kakashi glanced upwards at his father, eyes gentle like he was saying it was more than enough to see Sakumo care.

But Sakumo didn't just want to care, he wanted to _help_ too, dammit! Kakashi was his precious son.

"Kakashi-" the man began before stumbling on his own words. It startled him to see Kakashi's face suddenly clam up. In a second, nothing betrayed on the boy's face - it was so blank it almost scared Sakumo for a moment.

Kakashi looked up at him. As if noting Sakumo's discomfort, he leaked a simple smile, eyes slanting into a gentler expression. "Really, don't worry about it."

"But-"

Kakashi interrupted him again. "It'll pass in time." he stated clearly.

For a while the White Fang stared into his son's eyes, observing the absolute firmness they held for his last statement and nothing more. Where was that emotion he saw earlier? The man's shoulders slumped. "I get it, you don't want to fight right?" Sakumo finally said in a defeated tone. He tried to work a small, understanding smile onto his face, but it ended up looking more like a frustrated grimace.

Kakashi opened his mouth, looking like he wanted to argue, before he thought better of it and merely gave a minute smile instead. "Yeah. Sorry," he said softly, "Maybe next time?"

The White Fang nodded, hands gesturing for the boy to go on ahead. "To home with you," he said, "I'll go collect our weapons." He cut off his son before Kakashi could argue back. "Now, now, you're only five, Kakashi, and you need rest. I can take care of this."

With almost a pout like look on his face, Kakashi nodded, turning around and hopping back to their Compound. The silver-haired father watched his son go, letting his face drop to an unguarded look of worry now that Kakashi was no longer there.

He let out a long sigh in frustration. _That went well_, he thought sarcastically.

He wanted to make Kakashi smile and have fun, but all he ended up doing was pushing to boy away further. Now what?

Sakumo frowned to himself. So maybe training was out for a while. At least until Kakashi got better from … whatever was going on. So really, what _did_ kids do for entertainment these days anyways?

He was already out of ideas.


	5. Salvation

_Thank you for all you reviews!_

_Chapter 5: Salvation_

* * *

"Where do you think _you're_ going?" A suspicious father asked, watching as his kid silently slipped across the room.

The boy froze. "Out."

"Uh huh." Sakumo replied skeptically. The tone of his voice itself was expressive enough for the boy to understand Sakumo was demanding more details.

Kakashi turned sharply on his heels, facing his father. "I'm going to help give directions to little old ladies. And maybe help her carry her luggage home." Kakashi said off-handedly, after only a short pause.

"Excuse me?"

"Aaa, help little old ladies across the road?" The boy tried again, "Making sure to watch out for black cats crossing in front of my path along the way?"

The White Fang looked thoughtful, turning the idea in his mind, wondering if it was supposed to make more sense than it actually did. Shaking his head, Sakumo gave out a low sigh. "Never mind, just go," he shoo'ed. "Just come back before lunch."

"Yes sir!" Kakashi smiled with a mock salute. He jumped out the window ("Use the door!" Sakumo cried at his back) and hurriedly ran towards the training area without further ado.

The moment he knew he was nowhere near earshot of his father, Kakashi grinned to himself under the mask. "Note to self," he murmured, "the usual excuses make horrible pre-excuses." The boy paused. "Well, they make horrible post-excuses too," he noted. What did he expect; they _were_ Obito's after all.

With a shrug, the boy continued on his way.

By the time Kakashi made it to his destination, he had already shook himself out of his humorous mood. His eyes held nothing but serious determination as the boy studied the wooden training dummy before him.

"Alright, first without the dummy," he murmured to himself. The boy got into stance. Slowly, he ran through katas. Then he ran through his kihon-techniques, feeling strange as the familiar basic procedures felt foreign to him.

Throughout his fight with his father, he'd felt odd the whole time. His mind knew what to do, but his body was struggling to keep up. Kakashi had forced a smile on his face, hoping his father wouldn't realise what was going on. His stumbling could've been overlooked; he _was _a kid, after all. But missing quite a few times (practically _every_ time) caused a greater concern than he thought it would.

He was used to being fifty-something centimeters taller than he was now. Was it his fault his body was conditioned to attack a foot further than his kid body could hit?

Anger bubbled inside of him as he (clumsily, in his opinion) practiced his kihons again and again and again and _again._ They were simple things and he'd never done so horribly on them before. Rage burned as Kakashi suddenly tried to stab at the wooden dummy.

He lurched and fell instead.

"I hate this body!" he hissed out angrily. If he had aged back slowly, it would've been fine, but the change in his height had been too abrupt. It would take a while before Kakashi could fight properly in it.

In a moment of fit, as his conditioned older self stabbed another hit that his kid arms never reached, Kakashi drew his hands into a seal. "_Henge!"_ he cried. As the smoke cleared, his old, taller, body stood where his child self momentarily was. Kakashi flexed his fingers, and took a punch. Delight rushed through his body as the hit struck where he had intended it to.

_This_ was what he was used to.

The Henged Kakashi vigorously attacked the dummy, glee building at the sound of each solid hit. This was a first for him, having no choice but to fight in a henge.

The man stared at his own hands, frustrated laughter cutting through the crisp morning air.

It was so unusual, so awkward, so … so _infuriating!_ And he could do nothing about it but laugh at the absurdity of it all.

What could he do now? Re-train himself by learning how to fight as a kid again? Reconditioning his body – his ingrained instincts – would take ages! Besides, what was he going to do in that awkward period where he couldn't fight properly neither as a kid nor his older henged self? Kakashi hated feeling helpless.

He'd lived his whole life as one of the strongest warriors of Konoha. He wouldn't – and couldn't - put himself in a place where he couldn't fight properly.

As the silver-haired time-traveler continued to spar with the wooden dummy, he could feel himself relaxing for the first time since he'd first realised he'd been de-aged. His body moved instinctively through the familiar movements, mind finally let free from the stress he felt. He finally felt like himself once more.

It was pathetic, really, that he was so used to training and fighting, that the moment he couldn't perform it, his whole life seemed so off (or maybe it was the whole travelling to the past thing?). And again, this only gave him more incentive _not_ to retrain his younger body because Kakashi didn't think he could stand starting awkwardly all over again. It was one of those things that would infuriate him to no end, and only stress himself out more before he could get anything done.

Besides, why couldn't he just henge into the appropriate form whenever he wanted to fight? At least until his body reached its proper height?

Even as he argued to himself, Kakashi knew that was not an option. What was he going to do about the Academy? He couldn't sit around pretending he could fight without stumbling. Well, he could, but his dad knew him better than that. Sakumo knew how skilled Kakashi was, and his lack of them would worry the man.

Clumsiness aside, Kakashi would also have to watch himself throughout the whole academy year. He knew too much for a genin, and his instincts were far too honed. His mind was still in the upcoming war; too twitchy, too alert, too paranoid.

Kakashi let out a hiss of frustration as he sent a roundhouse kick at the wooden dummy one last time before dropping out of the henge and slumping on to the ground in defeat.

The more he thought about the academy, the less he wanted to go. What were to merits of becoming a proper shinobi? Kakashi knew everything the teachers could teach him and then some. They hardly even helped his old six-year-old student self, so what more could they teach him now?

What point was there to being hailed a prodigy when he did _nothing_ different than any ol' shinobi, albeit at a younger age? He had to suffer through exams and tests like the rest of them. He'd had to get a genin team in the end anyways. Shinobis watched him closer in jealous awe.

Kakashi knew he was good. But there was only so much he could pretend before he slipped up somewhere, and he didn't need any jealous shinobi picking up on it and perhaps using the information to their own interest.

This was _his_ life he was reliving once more. His freedom, his _salvation_. He'd be damned if anyone tried to hold him back and let the world fall into despair once more.

Kakashi was determined to play by his own rules.


	6. Whole

_Chapter 6: Whole_

* * *

Later that week, after extensive spying on other families and their daily habits, the White Fang approached his son.

"So, want to go to the park or something?" Sakumo asked hesitantly, not quite certain he was doing this right.

A pair of grey-blue eyes glanced up at Sakumo under silver bangs. Kakashi had a sudden flash of an image of himself prancing around kids and flowers like, frankly, a hyperactive Naruto, because that really seemed like something the knucklehead would do. Kakashi held back a shudder at the idea of himself doing it as well. … on second thought, that almost sounded like fun.

"Sure!" Kakashi cried cheerfully. Or tried to. It was hard work trying to act like a kid. It wouldn't be long before Kakashi stopped bothering to pretend and just acted like himself. It was, to steal words, quite _troublesome_ to have to act all day for the rest of his life. Maybe his father wouldn't notice?

A thought back on how he'd been acting lately shook that idea away. Nope, Sakumo definitely noticed. And it was undoubtedly confusing him too.

Kakashi shook his head clear from his thoughts and glance up at his father just in time to catch the flash of relief on Sakumo's face. Kakashi was glad he made the right choice by agreeing to go.

The two stepped foot outside the Compound doors. On an impulse, Kakashi took hold of Sakumo's larger hands, guiding the way. "Let's go," he said happily. A warm, genuine smile slipped on his face.

Sakumo smiled down at him, and the world felt warm, fuzzy, and whole.

**x**

…

The White Fang looked at his son, eyes trying to convey the problem to the boy. "Are you _sure_ you know where you're going?" Sakumo asked, not for the first time that day.

"Of course I do," the little boy answered. He then passed the Yamanaka Flowershop for the fourth time.

"Really?" the man droned skeptically.

Honestly, Kakashi was having fun, but Sakumo didn't need to know that. Kakashi tried blinking innocently at the older man. "Dad, I have an _excellent_ sense of direction." Inwardly, he grinned. '_And whether I use that sense of direction or not is another story.'_ He added to himself.

"You do know the park is only five minute from our house, right?"

The jounin-turned-boy shrugged. "So?"

"We've been walking for over half-an-hour now," Sakumo stated. He looked around, idly noting that they'd turned around yet again while they were talking.

Kakashi's smiling face betrayed nothing, "Maa, that's only because I'm taking the shortcut there."

The older man rubbed his chin, studying his son intently. Had he always been like this? Kakashi seemed so relaxed and carefree. It was almost – dare he say it – adorable. How could he have almost missed out on that? "Don't you mean longcut?" he murmured out playfully.

The five-year old gave him a lazy smile. "Hmm, did you say something?" he asked, practically crooning the words in amusement. His hand twitched for his trusty orange book to stick his nose it. It was almost a habit of his to make himself obnoxious to other (well, truthfully, mainly Gai). And his book always seemed to do the job.

But then again, his father might not be too happy seeing his precious son (he was five!) reading porn in public. Or rather, reading porn in general, public or not. Good porn, but porn nevertheless.

The silver-haired boy deliberately strolled past the Yamanaka Flowershop for the fifth time, pretending he didn't notice. And then he passed by their own Hatake Compound just for the heck of it.

"Kakashi…"

"I told you, we're almost there." The boy cut off his dad. "Really."

An hour later, travelling by rooftops now (and how he gave his dad a heart attack when he _jumped_), they made it to the park. "See, I told you so." The little boy jeered.

Sakumo gave a little sigh refusing to comment to that. He patted his boy's unruly silver hair. "I hope you grow out of this soon."

Kakashi gave a hidden grin from under the mask. Grow out of it? Nah, if his Team Seven was here, they'd tell his old man just how late he could be if he really tried.

There was a sudden sharp pang in his heart when Kakashi thought about the three (four) kids he'd left behind. The jounin shook his head, trying to clear his guilt. No, he would see the three of them soon. And perhaps maybe this time, Naruto and Sasuke would be able to grown up with their proper families, in a much better world. – without them having to make the choices they had in his future's past.

And everything would turn out much better than how he'd left it.

With that thought in mind, Kakashi shoved the problems to the side and cheerfully urged his dad to push him higher on the swings. As the wind rushed past his ears, Kakashi spared a glance at his father, watching the peaceful smile graced on Sakumo's lips. Kakashi clutched the metal chains of the swing tighter, closing his eyes and feeling at ease. His chest was bubbling with a feeling he'd never realised he'd lost up until now, and he liked it.

* * *

_A/N: Actually I was never sure if Sai was ever on Kakashi's team. I mean, he was in Team Kakashi but it was lead by Yamato, if I'm not mistaken, so technically wasn't he on Team Yamato instead? Ah well, doesn't matter too much._


	7. Rejection

_A/N: Haha, so I finally got around to answering your lovely reviews just before uploading this chapter. Anyways, in case _Viktorius _is not the only one wondering, yes, there _is_ a plot. The story's slowly inching there. :)_

_Chapter 7: Rejection_

* * *

There was no other way to say it, but Kakashi _loved_ being a kid again.

He spent days after days with his father, feeling guilt, hate, sadness, and frankly even the evils of war being lifted from his aching heart. It was therapeutical and he loved every moment of it.

Really, if he could help it, he would never let this moment go. He would stay a kid forever with his father, pretending like the future would never happen. But he knew those were just hopeless dreams. Life moved forwards with or without him.

And so, weeks after, Kakashi found himself staring at a suspiciously giddy father in their living room when he came back from "wandering the village helping old ladies (again)". Kakashi inched forwards into the room in slow steps. "What?" the boy questioned in a deadpan, hoping that whatever it was his dad had planned wouldn't hurt his masculine pride more than acting like a kid already had. Not that he particularly minded.

Sakumo dangled something from his hand. "I've got a present for my darlin' sweet lil' boy," the man sang.

Kakashi's grey-blue eyes focused on the scroll in his father's hand. Even with it wounded up, he recognised it immediately. But then again, he wasn't supposed to know what it was just yet. "What is it?" he asked instead, eyes never betraying a hint of his knowledge.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" The man teased back at him.

He wanted to wind Kakashi up, did he? The silver-haired boy would've happily played along, had a better question not come to his mind. "Why?" he asked, while inwardly his mind spun to recall the reason for getting his particular scroll the _first_ time around.

His old man grinned. "It's your congratulatory present for starting the academy! The new school year starts just next month!"

Sakumo's response actually gave Kakashi a slight pause. The Academy. Was it already time for the Academy? He was sure the last time he thought about it, it was still months and months away. Time moved fast with his father around.

Sakumo wasn't done yet, "The Hokage actually approved your form for starting the Academy despite being just five! You're probably going to be the youngest shinobi ever!"

Kakashi didn't know what to say. Well, actually he did, but something about his dad's excited face made Kakashi regret saying his next words. But it had to be done. He'd mulled over the idea for a while now, and he'd honestly found this to be the best course of action for his next few years. But it really did pain him to say it, especially to someone so thrilled about the whole thing. "I reject."

The scroll dropped out of Sakumo's hand.

"What? Why?" There was a panicked undertone to the question, and Kakashi knew it was because the idea of him rejecting was unimaginable to his father. It had been, after all, all he could ever talk about as a kid.

The boy let his eyes following the rolling scroll rather than look his father in the eye. "I just want to spend more time with you," Kakashi answered lightly. It was a truth to cover the truth.

Sakumo was confused. "But I'm not going anywhere. I won't," he replied, almost hesitantly, as if he didn't know if that was the right thing to say. His son didn't look up.

"Hmm…"

Even Kakashi's hum of a response seemed encrypted with some kind of hidden message – an idea or memory he didn't wish to share. "Kakashi- ?" the disorientated father began.

The masked boy's large grey-blue eyes finally glanced upwards; finally meeting Sakumo's own. The scroll laid forgotten on the floor. Words had a hard time working its way through Sakumo's throat as the two stared at each other. "Why ar- ?" Sakumo tried to say again. But Kakashi had already quickly turned around and left without another word.

Confusion blanketed the older man. What was going on? And that pained glint he saw in his son's eyes the moment he'd uttered the words "but I'm not going anywhere", didn't help matters any more. Because Sakumo was certain he wouldn't, but Kakashi looked like he knew better.

* * *

_A/N: I actually have a little rant about the Academy and chapter 599, but I think I'll save that for next chapter where it'll be slightly more relevant. __And yes, this chapter was short, I know. The next one I promise is double the length (plus a bit more)._


	8. Delusional

_Chapter 8: Delusional_

* * *

"The Hokage requests your presence," was the first thing Kakashi heard as he walked out the front doors of the Hatake Compound, days later. A shinobi with a ceramic Hawk mask practically materialized in front of him.

Silver hair swayed back as Kakashi halted immediately, in an attempt not to accidently run into the ninja. Kakashi tilted his head an inch to the side, studying the Anbu in front of him in a prolonged silence. "Understood." The boy finally replied.

"I will escort you." Hawk continued monotonously.

Kakashi gave a shrug, "I can find it myself, thank you." he said.

"It is unwise for a young boy to be walking alone."

The boy hummed to himself for a second before interrupting "Aaa, are you afraid someone's going to jump out at me? Perhaps some random ninja is going to attempt to suddenly appear and try to scared me into listening to them without complaint?" he asked with a forced cheer, the best he could do instead of reprimanding the soldier. For a second it irked him how his subordinate (but he wasn't an Anbu Captain anymore, was he?) was treating him like a little kid. Well, he _was_ a kid, but he _wasn't_.

"I have my orders-"

"To ensure I make it to the Hokage, correct?" Kakashi cut in. "Frankly, I'm five (well, not really), and I can get there myself just fine." The boy strolled off before the Anbu could respond. In the back of his mind, the silver-haired boy registered the presence of the Anbu following him.

Kakashi mentally shrugged. _Well, if he really wanted to…_

**x**

…

Kakashi opened the door to the Hokage's office with a short bow, as he felt his stalker Anbu take up his position beside the Hokage. In front of him stood the Konohagakura leader himself, clad in his usual formal robes. Kakashi's grey-blue eyes flickered to the figure before the Hokage - his own father. Worried grey eyes betrayed the calm face Sakumo put up as soon as he saw his son.

_Ah, of course_. Kakashi had an idea what the meeting was going to be about. He strolled in, heading towards his father.

Sarutobi smiled at the boy, taking a short puff on his pipe. "I was expecting you earlier," the old man began, "You're late-"

Sakumo shushed him quickly. "Shh, be glad he actually found his way up here," he half-whispered, recalling his son's horrible sense of directions. Kakashi pretended not to hear him.

"Sorry I'm late. I was on my way here when I stumbled upon a cat stuck up in the tree. I couldn't just leave him there, so I went to grab a ladder. By the time I found one, I forgot which tree the cat was up in, and had to climb up each and every one in Konoha in order to find and resc-"

"He got lost," the Anbu, Hawk, cut in.

Kakashi froze. He had not been expecting to be interrupted. Not even his _genin_ interrupted him! "Now now, are you going to believe him or _me_?"

"Well, you do have to admit his story seems a lot more likely," Sakumo replied, grinning at his son. Sarutobi smiled at the two of them.

For a second, Sakumo could've sworn there was a calculative glimmer in his son's eyes before he started speaking again. "Aaa, but sometimes the impossible is what really happens," Kakashi countered, "I mean, how else would you describe something like… time travel, for example." He said softly, trying to look as though he grabbed the topic out of nowhere.

The two men before him couldn't help staring at the younger boy. "You do know that time travel's not real, right?" Sakumo asked.

"No?"

His father studied him, a worried expression etched on his face. "Did someone say something to you about that, Kakashi?"

The boy gave him a wiry smile. "Aaa… no, of course not." He replied unconvincingly.

Sakumo shook his head. "Kakashi, everyone _wishes_ time travel was real, but no matter how much one wishes for it, it will never happen. We're stuck with the life we live, and every decision we make now matters." The silver-haired man paused. "And frankly, those who tell you they can are all _delusional_, okay? Don't listen to them."

Kakashi's grey-blue eyes flickered at his comment, but it was nothing Sakumo could identify. Was it disappointment at being proven wrong?

"Back to the matter at hand…" the Hokage interrupted.

Kakashi shrugged, his mood no longer as cheery as it was that morning. Sakumo, for the life of him, couldn't figure out why. "What did you wish to see me for, Hokage-sama?" The silver-haired boy asked.

The Hokage looked over at Sakumo who nodded in response. "Kakashi," the old man began, "I heard from you father that you're refusing your acceptance to the academy next month?"

"Correct, Hokage-sama," the boy replied, lounging as relaxed as he could manage.

A soft frown crossed the old man's face. "Is something the matter, Kakashi?" This didn't sound like the boy he knew.

"I don't feel like going anymore," he simply said.

Sarutobi pulled out a stamped letter from his desk, smoothening it out in front of the silver-haired boy. "I have your form here stamped for approval. I know you spent all of last year trying to get permission to start the Academy early. You were so enthusiastic, getting everything done without your father's help. Now that it's stamped, you're refusing? What happened, Kakashi?" This was not like the boy at all.

Kakashi looked up. He stared at the sheet. Yeah, he remembered that. By the age of four, Kakashi had taught himself all he could alone. In order to improve any more, he needed to get to the academy. He was three years younger than the required age limit, but he wouldn't let that get to him. Even without his father's help, the four-year-old Kakashi found all the required forms for allowing him to study early and filled them all out himself. He was determined to rise through the ranks as quickly as he could.

Of course, joining the Academy had been really useless. The teachers had nothing to offer, and in less than a year, he had graduated early – the youngest shinobi ever at the age of five. And then he did useless D-ranks for a year, and was promoted to Chunin at the age of six. Still, he was forced to do more D-ranks because no one wanted to work with the little kid, genius or not, and he couldn't do solo missions. And then he got stuck on a genin team for four years before being promoted to Jounin at thirteen, and even then, people still thought he was too young for it, no matter his skill level. Why else would they order him to stay on Team Seven despite being a Jounin?

"Being a shinobi suddenly sounds too boring and tedious," Kakashi commented.

"Boring? Being a shinobi is not for fun! It is a responsibility, and honour for our village, and our Lord." Sakumo lectured. The Hokage nodded behind him, agreeing with his words. "We protect our people. We don't – shouldn't – choose to be a ninja because it looks cool! It is a duty, and lives are entrusted to us when we wear our Konoha headbands. We become the pride of Konoha. That is why we choose to become shinobi – not for fun and games." Sakumo concluded.

Beside him, Kakashi smiled as he listened. This was why people looked up to the White Fang so much. "I know," he said quietly. And he really did.

Sakumo looked at his son intently. "If you know, then why don't you still want to go, Kakashi?"

"Like I said," Kakashi said idly, going back to his original reason, "I just want to spend more time with you."

"I'm not going anywhere." Sakumo replied, almost desperately, repeating the same response as last time. The boy shrugged, but he didn't abruptly leave the room like before. Sakumo took that as a good sign.

Kakashi smiled up at him, but the smile never reached his eyes. "Life has a funny habit of surprising people, and nothing is ever for certain." The words were practically whispered out in a voice that slipped between Sakumo's ribs like a cool metal blade.

His philosophy was too old for his age.

Sakumo suddenly couldn't help himself as he pulled his boy into a tight hug. It was Kakashi's choice to believe and do whatever he wanted to. Sakumo promised he would be behind Kakashi with whatever choice he made. He'd never expected Kakashi, with all his skills, to refuse a chance down the shinobi path, but if that was what he wanted, Sakumo would show Kakashi he didn't mind.

… and maybe then he would stop seeing those flashes of pain and hurt in Kakashi's grey-blue eyes Kakashi tried to hide whenever he was nearby.

The Hokage looked between the two Hatakes. "I have seen you train before, Kakashi," the old man tried one last time, "You could easily become one of the greatest ninja of our time. Would you not consider using that power for Konoha? Perhaps not now, but would you consider it when you are older?"

The boy creased his eyes into a closed smile. "We'll see," he said. And that was that.

* * *

_A/N: Okay, now let me rant about chapter 599. :)  
__So, according to that chapter, Kakashi, Rin, Obito and the rest of them all started the academy at the same time. Which, if we were going by when Kakashi graduated, that would mean 5 years or younger. Assuming that Kakashi graduated in one year, that would mean that the academy took around 4 years to finish considering Rin and Obito graduated at age 9. But then, if we looked at Naruto's academy years, the academy has to be less than 4 years considering Naruto managed to pass at age 12 even after taking the exam three times. Which meant Rin and Obito (and the rest of them) had to have started the Academy AFTER Kakashi! Which had to mean that either everyone his age was starting late, or Kakashi started early.  
And then, ch599 also says that they all took the chunin exams together. But HOW if Kakashi was already a chunin (age 6) BEFORE Rin and Obito even graduated the academy?  
In other words, why was all the information from chapter 599 completely wrong? :'(_


	9. Temperament

_A/N: I honestly wonder what it says about me, when the moment I realised my laptop was broken, the first thing I thought of was losing all of the chapters/stories I hadn't uploaded yet, instead of_ everything else_ I had stored on it..._

_Chapter 9: Temperament_

* * *

"Are you mad?" Kakashi asked as soon as he found that he couldn't put off the question any longer. The father-son pair were sitting in the living room of the Hatake Compound relaxing when the question came.

His father knew what he was talking about right away. "Mad? No! Whatever gave you that idea?" Sakumo exclaimed.

Kakashi shrugged. "Because I'm not going to be a ninja?"

The older man shook his head, his low-tied long silver hair swaying behind him. "No, I'm no mad. You're free to choose whatever career you want." He looked thoughtfully at his son, "I'm just surprised is all. Ever since I could remember, you've _always_ wanted to be a ninja."

"Hmm… I guess," Kakashi said noncommittally.

His father grinned at the boy, ruffling his silver hair. "I just wanted to brag to Jiraiya, but that could always wait."

_Jiraiya._

"You remember him, right?" Sakumo asked, not noticing Kakashi's sudden anguish at the thought of the Toad Sage. Kakashi's face was clear, and he was nodding at the question as soon as Sakumo looked over at him. "Oh, good. You probably don't remember, but all he ever did was brag about his genius student Minato right after he was assigned as the boy's teacher. I figured I could get back at him by bragging about _you_. Oh well. Minato's a good kid, modest, and tried to get Jiraiya to stop every time he started." He looked down at Kakashi, "You've met Minato, right?"

Kakashi started to nod before stopping himself midway. He frowned. He'd met Minato-sensei before? Kakashi had always thought that when Minato was assigned to watch over him, that was the first time the two of them had met.

"No?" The older Hatake answered for him. The man thought back. "Yeah, now that you mention it, I seem to recall that he came by a lot until you were a year old. The poor kid got promoted to Jounin and his workload increased like crazy after that. I don't blame him for not stopping by as much…"

The man furrowed his brow. "Speaking of stopping by, I sent a message to Jiraiya to come by soon."

"Why?"

The older man shrugged. "That was before I knew you were going to decline your academy acceptance letter."

Kakashi smirked. "Ah, right, you were going to brag."

"Hey! Don't say it like that; that makes me sound childish."

"You're not?"

With a mock-affronted sigh, Sakumo tried to wave him off. "Yeah, yeah, make fun of your old man." His eyes grew serious a moment later. "But honestly though, if you don't plan to be a shinobi, what do you want to do when you grow up, Kakashi?"

The boy scratched his chin thoughtfully. He honestly never gave anything else much thought. What to answer? Kakashi suddenly smiled as a thought hit him. "I thought maybe I'd be … a farmer." If you gave him a book (make it _Icha Icha_), he knew he could make a very convincing (_giggling_) scarecrow.

"I see…" Sakumo replied. But really, he didn't. "A farmer." He repeated.

"Yup."

Sakumo blinked. Nope, he still didn't see. "Why?"

"Well," Kakashi hummed, "You named me _Kakashi_ for a reason, right?"

The older man's head shot up at that. "What? No! That's not why you're called _Kakashi!_ Your name does not dictate you future career!" And that sudden image he had of his son chasing crows away didn't help.

"Oh?"

"It's like how some kid called Yuki is not going to become snow, or Natsu is not going to be Autumn, or, or…" He couldn't even think of proper examples.

Kakashi smiled. "Sakura?" he supplied helpfully when his father ran out of names.

"Precisely; no child named Sakura is going to suddenly find a job as a Cherry Blossom tree in the future."

"But she's pink enough." The boy said sweetly.

"What?"

Kakashi distracted him with another name. "Or Naruto," He suggested.

Sakumo nodded at his son. "Yeah, Naruto too. Just because you're called Naruto does not mean your future is going to be lying on top of noodles as a decorative topping."

"But he seems to like swimming in ramen, though."

"What?"

"Oh nothing, just wondering what kind of parent would name their kid after food," Kakashi said happily, laughing inwardly at his own inside jokes. It was a shame no one else understood them.

"Yeah, that does seem kind of silly, doesn't it?" Sakumo replied offhandedly. And then the door suddenly banged impatiently at them. Sakumo's head jolted upwards, his silver-hair swinging behind his back at the action. "Oh, that must be Jiraiya now."

Sakumo left quickly to get to the door while behind him Kakashi felt his limbs freeze in place, all humour forgotten. _It was Jiraiya._ It had been _years_ since Sakumo died, and Kakashi had plenty of time to get over his death. But even then he couldn't help crying when he saw the man. What was he going to do when he saw Jiraiya, then?

There was a loud greeting by the front door. Good-natured chuckling grew louder as footsteps close in to the room Kakashi was in. Kakashi closed his eyes and took a deep breath to steady his heart. With a quick reminder to himself to keep his chakra in check, the masked boy's eyes snapped open just as the two elder men walked into the room.

"Well, if it isn't Kakashi!" Jiraiya boomed happily.

Kakashi dropped his gaze. "Jiraiya-sama," he greeted. His throat clenched.

"Haha, what a respectful kid you have, Sakumo!" The white-haired sennin laughed, clapping his friend on the back. "Recognised me, huh, didn't you! Of course you did; who wouldn't?"

Sakumo snorted. "Really? It's been ages since you've last dropped by. Kakashi only remembered because I told him a second ago."

"I'm the Great Jiraiya! The Super-"

"Yeah, yeah," Sakumo cut him off. He turned to his oddly silent son. "Don't listen to him, Kakashi. Those speeches can turn you into an idiot."

Kakashi cracked a small smile that wavered slightly under the two adult's stares.

"Hey, hey!" The Toad Sage countered, "That's not true!"

Hearing them bicker like it would last forever was … agonizing. To think these men were so close, and then hardly a year later, they would be torn apart without warning.

…but then again, wasn't that what a shinobi's life was all about?

With a soft mutter to be excused, Kakashi left the room. He needed to get himself back under control. He had been an ANBU captain; he had no excuse to be acting this badly because of a couple sad reminders. He had been trained better than this. Honestly, even if he was technically a kid now, influenced by his kid temperament and all, he shouldn't be _this_ horrible at keeping himself in check.

With that in mind, Kakashi hurried to his own room, swept clear a spot on the floor, and sat down. Keeping an eye on the door, Kakashi let his chakra wrap around him as he squeezed his eyes shut. Not a second later, Kakashi was breathing softly as he slipped into mediation, determined to calm himself down, repeatedly reminding himself he _wasn't_ five, _so stop acting like one!_

Behind Kakashi's closed door, down the hallway, Sakumo and Jiraiya looked at each other. Confusion had been etched on their faces as they watched Kakashi retreating back to his own room.

_Why was he acting so … ?_


	10. Gone

_A/N: Good news! My laptop is back from the dead!  
Anyways, sorry I haven't got around to answering reviews yet, but I glanced at them, and the major questions you all seem to have is whether or not Kakashi is going to be a shinobi. ...Well, I suppose I could tell you that eventually Kakashi's going to make it back into Anbu again. Why I'm divulging this spoiler is mainly because I'm willing to bet that by the time that come around, you all would've forgotten about this inconspicuous little author's note already. ;)_

_Chapter 10: Gone_

* * *

Lunch the next afternoon found Sakumo and Jiraiya sitting in the living-room discussing the enigma, Kakashi.

"I don't know what happened," the Hatake said, rubbing his face. "I _swear_ he wasn't like that before." the father cried, nearing distress. "I mean, I _know_ I never used to spend very much time with Kakashi, but I'm certain I know how Kakashi usually acts like."

"And that's not how it is?" The white-haired Sennin asked.

Sakumo nodded. Last night, Kakashi was acting too… mournful? The way he looked at Jiraiya was like he couldn't believe the man was alive. Honestly, it was like he couldn't believe the whole Konoha village was alive, the way Kakashi looked at things sometimes. _Kids_ don't look at things that way, prodigy or not.

Jiraiya glanced over at the father, eyes thoughtful at the situation. "Well, it's probably nothing." he said slowly, "The kid's just growing up. You know, puberty and all that."

"Kakashi's _five._" The silver-haired man deadpanned.

Jiraiya shrugged. "Early puberty, then." he corrected without missing a beat. "Your kid's a genius, and so are his cells."

Sakumo groaned into his hands. "Why am I even asking you for help in the first place?"

"How should I know?"

As the White Fang tried to suppress another groan, Kakashi strolled into the room, looking like nothing was wrong with the world. "I'm going out." the boy said, a bored stare in his eyes. "Training." he added.

Sakumo nodded. "Sure. Be home by dinner." he said. At least some things hadn't changed. His little boy still when out training every now and then.

Jiriaya frowned, cutting in suddenly. "Wait… I thought you didn't want to be a ninja?" he shot out, confusion clinging on his voice.

"Hmm." was the noncommittal answer.

"So what're you training for?" the sennin asked, suspicious.

The White Fang froze at that question. That was a _good_ question, dammit. He was so used to Kakashi going out to train he didn't even think about it. From the corner of his eyes, he glanced over at his son. The kid merely stood there, slouching and staring him like that was the stupidest question ever. "What do you think?"

"That's why I'm asking you, kid."

The boy grinned cheekily. "Some ninja _you_ are. Aren't you supposed to know everything without being told?"

"Oho, you've mistaken 'Ninja' for 'God'. Common mistake, I've been told. Especially around me." Jiraiya smirked as Kakashi rolled his eyes at his antics. "Let's see now; my personal opinion is that you need the exercise." he answered with a mischievous gleam in his eyes.

"Ahh, fat jokes." Kakashi commented. "Dad, he's teaching me bad manners." the boy whined, amusement in his tone. "Make him stop!"

Jiraiya held up his hands in defeat as Sakumo turned his grey glaring eyes at his friend. "What? It's not like he hasn't heard it before!" he defended himself. The sennin turned to pin Kakashi a glare of his own, only to watch as the young boy leave, laughing the whole while. He turned back to Sakumo the moment Kakashi was out of earshot. "That was weird." he declared. "I swear, the last time I visited, he was all like 'if you're not going to say anything productive, go away', and he wouldn't even respond to my jokes. What happened?"

Sakumo shook his head, eyes looking worriedly back at him. "That's what _I_ want to know. And some help _you _were for that." he snapped, scowl on his face.

"Hey, he's your kid, not mine!" the older man protested.

The two long-time friends lapsed into silence for a long time before the Hatake finally let out a large sigh before shaking his head, frustrated. "Forget it! Let's go out; you wanted to visit that new dango place, right?"

"I don't know … do I have to pay?"

"Jiraiya." Sakumo grumbled, ignoring the other man's grinning face. "Oh alright, fine. Let me grab my wallet."

Sakumo slipped out of the room, shaking his head at Jiraiya's actions. But then again, that was so like his friend. The father crossed into his room, prepared to rummage through his belongings to find his hidden wallet. He froze the moment he entered it.

Grey eyes flickered across the room, trying to pinpoint their source of distress. But nothing seemed out of place?

Messy bed; clothes on floor; traps not tripped; weapons in place, nothing was wrong. But the _air_ in there seemed different. Nothing was wrong; was he being paranoid? Everything was in place, except- EXCEPT … !

Sakumo's grey eyes fluttered wide open. _No, it couldn't be!_ He rummaged through his things, dropping carefully placed traps, and threw open a hidden vault in his room. His gloved hands rustled through its contents, stopping when he noted he was short one.

With speed only a jounin could compete with, he rushed out of his room, skidding to a stop before his long-time friend. His eyes were wide and frantic.

"It's gone!" he cried before rushing back to his room again for a second search.

He could hear Jiraiya scrambling after him, but he paid the man no heed.

_It was GONE!_


	11. Search

_A/N: I would like to say a (smug) 'Nice try' to all of you who tried guessing what was missing! ;)_

_Chapter 11: Search_

* * *

Eyes wild and flickering left and right in distraught, Sakumo tried to come up with all the possible places it could have disappeared to. Out of idea, the man could only cry out "It's gone!" once again in despair.

Jiraiya was thoroughly confused. "What is?"

The Hatake waved his hand frantically as he thrashed his room in search of the missing item. "It was here, I swear!"

"What was?" Jiraiya demanded.

With a snap, the White Fang turned around, staring intently at his friend. "My scroll!" he cried out, "My summoning scroll!"

For a second, the Toad Sage could do nothing but stare unbelievingly at his friend. "You _lost_ your summoning scroll?" he repeated slowly.

Sakumo cringed at his tone. "I know, I know." he murmured, ashamed.

"No you don't! Do you know how sacred a summoning scroll is? Do you know how much of a betrayal of trust it is? You didn't even bother to keep your contract safe!"

Most contracted ninjas didn't need to use a scroll in order to call out their summons. The contract itself was merely a written pact between the ninja and the summon; not the tool needed to call them out. Instead, only blood was needed, while the scroll itself was kept somewhere safe. For Jiraiya, that was on his person. For Sakumo, that was a heavily trapped vault inside his home.

"Didn't bother?" Sakumo repeated, suddenly enraged, "Do you know how secure I keep it? True, I don't keep the scroll on my body all the time like you do, but it's hidden so securely in my house, I swear only Anbus would be able to even attempt to get at it, and even then they would've had to work hard if they didn't want to raise an alarm!" The silver-haired father fumed out. Friend or not, it angered Sakumo Jiraiya could even suggest he cared so little about his allied summons. His dog summons were as much family as Kakashi was.

Jiraiya held his hands up. "Okay, okay," he placated, "Just checking. So let's think logically about this, then," he said, face serious, "Why would someone break into your house to steal your summoning scroll?"

"Who wouldn't want to command a summon?" Sakumo asked dryly.

"_If_ they listen to him." Jiraiya corrected.

"True."

There was a silence as the two shinobi tried to figure out what happened. "Are you sure only Anbus would be able to get at it?" Jiraiya asked again. Not that Sakumo was prone to lying about his skills, but what Anbu leveled ninja in leaf would attempt to go against someone like Sakumo?

"I'm certain."

Jiraiya rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Did you, perhaps, take it out recently?" he mused.

There was a hesitant pause. "Well," the younger man began, "… once." he confirmed, doubt in his voice.

"To whom?"

"Ah, well, Kakashi." Sakumo replied in an almost sheepish tone.

"Kakashi?"

The White Fang ran his hand through his long silver hair, letting out a soft sigh. "That was before I found out that he didn't want to become a shinobi anymore. I was going to let him sign it as a congratulatory gift for being accepted into the academy."

"Kakashi's _five."_ Jiraiya stressed. Sakumo had a flashback of himself saying the same line to Jiraiya not too long ago. "Surely you think that's still too young for a kid begin summoning?" The white-haired man continued.

"I wasn't going to let him start summoning right away!" Sakumo denied frantically, eyes wide in horror at the thought of it. "Certified prodigy or not, Kakashi's still on basic chakra manipulation training! If he tries summoning anything, he might exhaust all his chakra in the process. And as mature as he may seem at times, Kakashi's still a kid, and I shudder to think what would happen if the dogs didn't accept him." Like to most summons, first appearances meant a lot. It was practically there and then the summon decided whether they wanted to be contracted to such a ninja or not. And honestly, not a lot of summons were willing to listen to kids not even a quarter of their age.

"I wasn't going to let him summon anything!" Sakumo continued, "I just wanted him to have his name on the scroll so he would have it in case anything happened. I wasn't planning to teach him how to summon the dogs until he was much older."

"Or never now." Jiraiya muttered to himself. No ninja summon would want a _civilian_ as their contractor.

"Well you never know; Kakashi _is_ only five." Sakumo said lightly, a hopeful spark in his eyes. "He could always change his mind."

The Toad Sage shrugged. "Maybe." he replied, before seriousness went back into his eyes. "Are you sure you put the scroll away afterwards?" he asked.

"Of course." Sakumo exclaimed. "Kakashi may have shocked me with his decision, but I wouldn't let down my dogs' trust just because of that." Grey eyes closed, trying to recall a few weeks ago. "Let's see…"

"No one was watching you?" Jiraiya interrupted, watching the man before him trying to concentrate.

"No - well, Kakashi was." Sakumo remembered.

The man recalled how the little boy had left the room signalling the end of their conversation, without really explaining anything more to his 'I reject'. For hours after, Sakumo couldn't help but just sit there in their living room staring blankly after him, thinking useless thoughts, helpless against whatever was affecting his son.

He'd shook himself out of his stupor a little later, mindlessly crossing the room to pick up his forgotten scroll – Kakashi's acceptance present. It was only then that he had realised Kakashi was back in the room with him.

Sakumo remembered looking over at his son. "Problem?" he'd asked lightly, gut telling him not to bring up their previous conversation if he didn't want Kakashi walking out on him again.

Small, pale hands had gestured towards the scroll in his hands. "May I see?" Kakashi had asked curiously.

Sakumo had frozen on spot, brain frantically trying to come up with a way to withdraw his present without seeming like he was. It was just too dangerous for someone who was not planning to undergo ninja training. "Next time?" Sakumo remembered asking hopefully.

And then, Sakumo recalled, Kakashi started to play dirty by pouting. His large grey-blue eyes widened into what could only be called puppy-dog eyes. "Please?"

Sakumo almost gave in to him there. He was just too cute! But no, it wasn't safe, and no matter how cute, sad, or disappointed Kakashi looked, Sakumo's protectiveness was stronger. "No." he'd said firmly.

He had then allowed Kakashi to follow him to the room he usually kept the scroll in, stopping the boy at the door. And then, he'd locked the scroll away letting Kakashi see just how many traps he placed over it, just to make sure Kakahi knew not to be stupid enough to try and break it out when Sakumo was away.

Back in the present world, Jiraiya frown, listening as his friend slowly recalled the past events. "And then?" he prompted.

Sakumo shook his head. "That's all. I mean, sure I let Kakashi watch, but it's not like he could keep up with all the hand seals and know all the counters!"

And still the scroll was missing, was left unsaid.

"Do you really think Kakashi has it?" Sakumo asked suddenly, dreading the answer.

"Hey, I never said that." The Sage paused. "But it seems most likely." The white-haired sennin could see the frantic panic in his friend's grey eyes. Jiraiya ran a hand through his own hair in frustration. "Okay, why don't you summon Kane? She could probably track him down."

"No!" Sakumo cried. He thought of his large wolf-like dog summon, Kane. Sure she could probably do it, but… "As last resort." The White Fang promised. "But I can't tell her that I _lost_ the scroll!" Or even the fact that Kakashi might have stolen it. Dog or not, the protective wrath of a female for her pups was something to fear.

"It's okay," Sakumo said, taking in a deep breath, trying to push his panic aside. "I can find him," he assured himself, as calmly as he could. "Kakashi's just a kid."

"Who _apparently_ broke into the most securely trapped vault in your house." Jiraiya reminded him.

"Shut it."

"Seriously, my friend, if he really did take it, I can safely say Kakashi's _more_ than just another genius."

"You're not helping." Sakumo snapped. He took another deep breath. "Okay, he told us he was going to train in the forest right?"

"He could've been lying."

"Or maybe he wasn't. It's a start, right?"

The two ninjas raced out of the house, rushing towards the little forest behind the Hatake Compound. Sakumo slowly walked around it, trying not to miss a thing. His grey eyes sparked. "He's been here." the man said, in relief. He raised his head and sniffed the air cautiously, before turning to the sennin beside him, eyes slanted into a worried look.

"Don't worry, I'm sure Kakashi's fine." the white-haired man consoled.

"And if he's not?" Sakumo all but whispered in a horrified tone.

Onyx eyes soften as the man tried to comfort his friend. "This is Kakashi we're talking about, Sakumo." He tugged at his friend's arm, ushering the man forwards. "Come on, I'm sure we're getting close. Can find his scent?"

The two shinobi leaped forward, rushing onwards determinately. They could track Kakashi down, right? Sakumo lifted his head and sniffed again. Grey eyes narrowed, as they scanned the area. His son's scent was stronger now, and then-

_"-AAaaaiiii!"_

Sakumo froze eyes wide and turning towards Jiraiya. "Please tell me that was my imagination." he begged.

"That sounded like a kid shrieking to me." The older man said lowly, eyes already trying to pinpoint the echoing cry.

Horrifying thoughts were already rebounding through Sakumo's mind.

_What if Kakashi tried to use the scroll, and used up all his chakra? What if Kakashi didn't sign the scroll before attempting to use it? What if that was a summon attacking Kakashi because they thought he stole it? What if they didn't think Kakashi was worthy to be the master of whoever he summoned and they killed him for that? What if the summon scared Kakashi and they started fighting? What if Kakashi was on the ground right now writhing in pain from fatal dog bites and scratches, all just because he, Sakumo, couldn't keep the damn scroll secure?_

The musty smell of fur washed over Sakumo, as the man tried not to panic, hand shaking in fear. He shot off with his friend crying his name after him, but he couldn't hear a thing.

_Kakashi, Kakashi, Kakashi, Kakashi… _His son's name repeated over and over in his mind. Beside him, he vaguely realized Jiraiya following.

_Kakashi, Kakashi, Kakashi, Kakashi, Kaka- _He bursted out into a clearing of the forest, and then Sakumo froze, skidding along the branch of the tree. His legs felt suddenly weak. "Jiraiya…" the White Fang murmured unconsciously, eyes wide. Sakumo knew that if the Sage were to tell him the scene in front of him was nothing more than a dream, he would readily accept the idea in an instant.

But the other man only slowly shook his head, eyes fixed on the sight in front of them, "Damn…"


	12. Caught

_A/N: Kakashi was mauled to death by vicious dogs, and thus ended his time-traveling adventures. The End. (okay, fine, not really)_

_Chapter 12: Caught_

* * *

**A little Earlier**

Kakashi was a very happy boy (or man, if you will), because currently in his possession was the most important scroll he had ever signed (even more important than all those papers Shizune made him scrawl on when he was temporary Hokage, and that was saying a lot. Or not.).

The silver-haired time-traveller nonchalantly strode up to his father, scroll hidden safely by the window of his room where he could grab it before running outside. "I'm going out; training." he announced. It was hard to push down the absolute giddiness he felt at that moment, and he ended up giving them nothing but a bored, blank stare.

His father didn't seem bothered by it. "Sure," the man said. "Be home by dinner." In fact, he almost looked glad Kakashi was training. That was all fine by Kakashi; the quicker he could go without questions, the sooner he could get his pack back. He really missed his cute little dogs.

Kakashi was on his way out when Jiraiya's question ruined his great escape. "Wait… I thought you didn't want to be a ninja?" he man asked.

Kakashi just hummed in response, hoping the man would just get to the point so he could leave already.

"So what're you training for?"

_The problem_, Kakashi thought, _was that he __was__ a ninja, and going out training would always be second nature to him._ He had already lived twenty-odd years as a ninja. That being said, he had no reason for going out training (if he actually _was_ going training) other than that.

Kakashi was about to open his mouth to give a random excuse when he realised that after all his years of honing his skills for giving ridicules lies, he couldn't think of anything plausible on the spot. And that look his father was giving made him think better than to spout something stupid. So, instead, the boy settled with a slouch and a, "What do you think?" accompanied by an exasperated eye roll.

"That's why I'm asking you, kid." Jiraiya retorted back, unamused.

The masked boy sighed internally. It looked like it was time to distract the sennin. Maybe a something to inflate the Sage's ego … something to make the man stop interrogating him so seriously. "Some ninja _you_ are. Aren't you supposed to know _everything_ without being told?"

As expected, the Toad Sage countered with a, "Oho, you've mistaken 'Ninja' for 'God'. Common mistake, I've been told. Especially around me." Kakashi had to stop himself from smiling at that oh-so-familiar conceited tone. Some things never changed. Jiraiya continued, "Let's see now; my personal opinion is that you need the exercise."

_Oh, fine, make fun of the five-year-old,_ Kakashi thought to himself. Out loud, he said in a decidedly aggravated wail, worthy of his age. "Ahh, fat jokes. Dad, he's teaching me bad manners." And purely for his own amusement, he whined out a, "Make him stop!"

The jounin-turned-boy laughed as he watched his protective father fix a glare at the sennin, and he took Jiraiya's distraction as a time to leave. He heard the old man defending himself to Sakumo, but Kakashi didn't stick around to listen. He had places to be and things to do.

He slipped off to his room quickly, snagging the scroll from his desk and hopped out the door into the little forest behind the Hatake Compound. He had a lot to do before dinner.

Making sure he was far enough inside the forest so that no one would be able to interrupt him accidentally, Kakashi untied the scroll from his waist, smoothening it out on the ground before him. He read down the names of the contracted ninjas, a short pout on his lips when the place where his name should've been sat blank.

Oh well, he knew it was like that. That's what he was here to do, right?

Pulling his mask below his lips, he bit into his thumb, drawing blood. Kakashi hastily swiped his name on the scroll before it dried, and stood back to look at his handy-work. Not bad.

Excitement and anticipation bubbled inside of Kakashi. He could finally get his ninken back. His pack had been his only family after his father's death. They'd practically raised each other.

Cutting his hand once more Kakashi fingers fell into familiar seals; Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Ram. He slammed his hand to the ground. "_Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"_ he cried out.

Seals formed across the ground as smoke puffed in the air signalling his summons' arrival. Well, one, at least.

"Pa … kkun?" Kakashi asked hesitantly as the sole pup, younger than ever, sat on the ground, ears flapping up and down as his head whipped back in forth in utter confusion.

The miniature pug's dark lazy eyes were sharp and narrow for once as he focused intently at the silver-haired boy calling his name. He studied the boy carefully, even walking around him sniffing. Finally the dog settled down, sitting in a familiar lazy posture. "Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one who shrunk, Boss." he said, voice not as deep and gruff as it had been the last time he was summoned.

A thrilled grin split Kakashi's face. "Pakkun." he greeted once more, voice giving away his absolute relief.

The dog scratched his ear with a shrug. "Those must have been some miracle kibbles I ate. I look like a young pup again. I told you not to eat my food again, Boss."

"Aaa, you're young but wrinkly already." Kakashi commented playfully, tugging at the pug dog's face. He expertly ignored Pakkun's last comment.

"But I'm still cute." the dog growled out.

The time-traveller laughed, voice light and happy like the kid he was. "Yes you are, Pakkun." he said lovingly. Kakashi's eyes grew serious a moment later. "How is the rest of the pack?"

"Other than waking up and suddenly realising that we've all shrunk, and the fact that no one realises what's going on except for the eight of us? Fine." Pakkun drawled. He looked up at his Boss, "We were worried you wouldn't remember us either. I think you should summon them."

Their pact with each other was through Kakashi's blood. Perhaps that was why his precious ninken still remembered him? "Right." the boy agreed. He drew another slither of blood from the cut on his hand, running through hand seals once more. He placed in more chakra as he pressed his hand down on the ground. "_Kuchiyose no Jutsu."_ he cried firmly with determination.

Smoke filled the clearing in the woods. Kakashi stood still, his silver-hair waving gently in the wind as he waited for the smoke to disperse.

Coughing sounded from the ground. "I think I breathed in smoke by mistake." a whine sounded, voice suspiciously like Shiba.

"Woah, we got summoned. Please tell me it's the Boss. I don't think anyone else would give me a vest to wear. It's cold without it." Guruko yipped.

"Boss." Akino greeted. His serious expression looked off on his younger, tawny furred face. His trademark sunglasses looked larger than ever on him.

Kakashi smiled, warmth spreading inside of him, seeing his pack sitting all around. "Shiba, Bisuke, Akino, Uhei, Guruko, Urushi, Bull." he welcomed.

"You look young, Boss." one of them said.

"You too." Kakashi replied with a playful roll of his eyes. A heavy bump knocked his hand with a soft growl. Kakashi looked down smiling. "Hey, Bull." he said, scratching the black bulldog's ear.

As if following Bull's lead the pack suddenly leaped at him, nudging his skin with their cold wet noses, limbs pressing his ticklish sides, their wagging tails tickling his nose with vigour. _"_Hey, hey, I'm ticklish at this age!" Kakashi tried to push the dogs off to no avail. "Hey! Haha ha, h-_AAaaaiiii!"_ he screamed. He clasped a hand quickly over his mouth at the shout, glaring at his dogs. They eight of them grinned back innocently at him. "See if I ever buy you guys steak ever again." the silver-haired jounin-turned-boy muttered moodily under his breath.

"You never bought us any in the first place." Pakkun told him.

"It's the thought that counts." Kakashi half-heartedly defended himself as Pakkun ignored his protest. The other dogs bounced happily around the Hatake, having fun. The silver-haired boy smiled blissfully, watching his ninken frolic around him. He had his whole family together now. Nothing was going to ruin this day and the days to come.

That was when Kakashi heard the whisper of "_Damnn…"_ echo from the trees behind him, sounding suspiciously like Jiraiya. There was bewildered astonishment in Jiraiya's voice, completely coating that single word.

Kakashi sighed, patting the ground to get his dogs to sit. Looked like he got caught. With a deep breath to calm his nerves, Kakashi turned his gaze towards the trees where his father and Jiraiya were standing, and tried not to fear for the worst.


	13. Prodigy

_Chapter 13: Prodigy_

* * *

Amazement barely described what Sakumo was feeling. If anything, Sakumo felt like he fell into the twilight zone, because this should _not_ have been happening. "Am I dreaming?" the father whispered over to Jiraiya as he watched his son pat the ground, and immediately the _eight_ rowdy dogs around him settled down obediently.

"If you are, then I think I'm in the same dream," the white-haired Sennin replied just as quietly, like he was afraid of disturbing the incredulous scene in front of them. He suddenly grimaced, "And I don't think I like what it's implying when my dreams have only _guys_ in it. Where are all the hot bunny girls?"

Sakumo ignored his friend as the smallest pup in the group of dogs, a miniature pug, turned away from their bickering and towards his son. "I'm going to faint now, Boss," the dog said calmly.

His prodigal son nodded. "I don't blame you, Pakkun," he replied evenly. The other dogs seemed to agree with whatever they were talking about.

"Boss? They're calling him 'Boss'. Do you know how long it was before I could make Kane to stop calling me 'brat'?" The man muttered bewilderingly at Jiraiya once more. "And I was even older than Kakashi is now!" Sakumo's head hurt from the disconcerting situation, and he wanted – no, he _needed_ – answers. Now. The Hatake leaped from his branch, landing in front of the huge pack of dogs surrounding his son.

Instinctively, the pack stood up as one, arranging themselves into an almost protective circle around his son.

"Hey, hey, I don't mean any harm to Kakashi," Sakumo calmed gently, hands held up defensively. "Can't a man go up to his son without being suspected of anything?"

The dogs gave him glances ranging from confusion, disbelief, wonder, amazement, hope, and worry. It was quite the experience to have it all shot at him at once.

Kakashi seemed to understand what was going on as he gave a small childish laugh, hand stroking the fur of his ninken in a calming motion. "I think that would depend on what that said man wanted," the boy teased.

Sakumo's heart fluttered as he looked into the twinkling grey-blue eyes in front of him. Kakashi looked so tranquil, so relaxed. When was the last time he saw his son without the faked mask of calmness slid over his tormented eyes? Kakashi was an excellent shinobi, Sakumo would give him that, but there was no way Sakumo would miss that wretched façade his _own_ son put on.

And now, here he was, eyes still too old for his age, but that mask of his completely dissolved. It was enough for the father to forgive Kakashi for stealing his summoning scroll. Sure, the boy would still get an earful about the risks and dangers he put himself through by signing and summoning without permission or supervision, but that could wait. Right now, Sakumo just didn't want to lose the blissful moment Kakashi was in; he wanted to be part of it.

So, with an exasperate smile, Sakumo gave a low chuckle and gently rubbed the small ears of the dog with a tattoo on his face sitting in front of him. He watched as the young pup gave a satisfied sigh, rubbing his tawny face into his gloved hands. "Introduce me to your dogs," the silver-haired jounin said, eyes flicking up to catch a glimpse of his son's reaction; he knew the boy was expecting to be yelled at.

The boy didn't fail to amuse him with the twitch of surprise that suddenly spammed his face and disappeared just as sudden when the boy pushed it away. In its place was a genuine loving expression that Sakumo hoped was for him just as much as it was for the eight dogs surrounding his son.

Kakashi nodded at the pup Sakumo was petting, gesturing towards him. "That's Bisuke," the boy said as Sakumo studied the dog with his dark ringed eyes and tattooed forehead. "The one with the sunglasses is Akino. Guruko has the whisker marks. The bandaged greyhound is Uhei. The one with the mohawk is Shiba. The large, dark bull dog is Bull. Urushi is the one with the spiky hair and sharp teeth. And here, this is Pakkun," the boy finished, patting the miniature pug on the head.

"I'm the cute one," the pug added in a definite grumble.

"Ahh, of course," Sakumo agreed, a small grin growing on his face.

That comment immediately earned the miniature pug's acceptance. "I like you already," the dog barked, padding his way over to the older Hatake. "You could learn a thing or two from him," Pakkun directed at Kakashi. The boy playfully scrunched up his nose in mock disgust at the thought.

"Hey!" Sakumo protested.

Like the legendary sannin he was, Jiraiya had jumped down to join the party without any of them noticing. At least not until he spoke up. "I know," he began, "you're Sakumo's son and all, and if he doesn't mind you summoning these guys, then that's he's decision." There was a pause, "But what I want to know is _how_ you summoned _eight_ ninja dogs on your first try, and _without_ any guidance. Not to mention the fact you're not even winded yet." His dark eyes narrowed intensely as he observed the boy for any form of reaction. A calculated glimmer seemed to pass over Kakashi's eyes, prodding a "and don't you start acting tired _now_ to evade my questions" from the white-haired sennin.

What could possibly pass as a pout appeared on the boy's face at the Toad Sage's last statement before he spoke. "Well, it's not like summonings are a forbidden secret or anything. I can easily look it up in the library. Besides," The young boy gave the Sage a haughty look, "you forget; I'm a certified prodigy." The look Kakashi gave Jiraiya made Sakumo snort in laughter before he could hold it in.

The older, white-haired man glared at both him and the son. "That's –"

"Anyways," Kakashi interrupted, cheerfully, "I didn't summon all eight at the same time. I summoned one," he gave a dramatic pause, "and then _seven_." he finished grandly, as if that made all the difference.

"Same thing."

"When seven and eight sound like the same time to you, it might be time to retake schooling." Jiraiya stared unamused at Kakashi who shrugged in response. "I answered your questions," the masked boy said innocently. "It's not my fault you won't accept it."

The Sage looked frustrated, most likely at the fact that he couldn't explain a phenomenon as incredulously impossible as this, and Kakashi clearly wasn't sharing. "That's complete bull-"

"Jiraiya!" Sakumo snapped.

The older man cut off mid swear. Kakashi stared blandly back at him. For a while, the two locked in a silent staring contest before a low growl sounded from deep in the old man's throat. "Fine," Jiraiya said, face clearly saying it wasn't. "Keep your secrets."

Sakumo shot his friend a placating look. "Well, my son _is_ a prodigy…" he said hesitantly, because honestly, no matter how weak that reason was, it was still the only explanation that would possibly make any sense.

"If that's the case, then we've clearly been setting the bar too low for other so-called prodigies," Jiraiya muttered lowly to himself, before sighing in defeat. The man turned towards Sakumo, giving him a quick nod. "It's about time I left. I've stayed here long enough as it is. I've got to get my network running."

"Thanks for helping me find Kakashi," the father called after him.

The Sage shrugged. "No problems. Keep your kid out of trouble." With that and a gush of wind, the white-haired Toad Sage _shunshined_ away, leaving nothing but leaves on the ground where he just was.

For a second, Sakumo looked like he had something to say to Kakashi. The man opened and closed his mouth for a good minute before shaking his head, defeated. He turned towards his son with an easy smile. "Let's head home," Sakumo said softly, getting up from the grassed floor. For the time being the man looked like he was content to just let things be, instead of pursuing information Kakashi clearly had no intention of divulging.

Kakashi nodded obediently and felt his unconsciously tensed posture relax slightly. He looked over at his ninken. Getting the idea, seven of them disappeared with a puff, leaving only Pakkun sitting on his lap. Kakashi stayed where he was, watching as his father's figure grew smaller and smaller as several meters' distance spanned between them.

Pakkun looked between the father and son before speaking up. "I should probably go too."

Kakashi pursed his lips, not answering, his eyes fixed on his father's sturdy back as the man headed towards the trees. "Hey, you think my skills are slipping?" Kakashi murmured abruptly to Pakkun, remembering how emotional he'd been lately. Or did all these circumstances he was thrown into excused him to act as such?

The dog seemed to ponder the question before giving the silver-haired boy a quick shrug. "What can I say, Boss, you're lazy," Pakkun rumbled out, flopping his head.

Kakashi couldn't help the smile that slipped on his face at the comment. Trust Pakkun to stay constant even while the whole world was tipping off its axis. His dear, lazy, blunt Pakkun. Kakashi smiled softly as the dog disappeared from his lap in a quiet puff. "Yeah, the world's not going to change itself, is it?" he chuckled, before getting up to follow after his retreating father.


	14. Tests

_A/N: Thank you Veloren and fermontie for pointing out the spelling/grammar errors on the last chapter. Feel free to continue doing so (and that applies to everyone who wants to)._

_On another note, sorry for the short chapter (again). If I told you the next chapter's roughly three times longer, would you stop complaining? ;)_

_Chapter 14: Tests_

* * *

Kenji Yamada was an unremarkable boy. He was probably one of those kids who you would have to look twice on the Academy photograph just to make sure he was really there. He was what one would call a non-descriptive boy.

He had brown hair (like a third of the class), average height, and really, he was dressed in common, standard shinobi-ware. He was not in any clans. His grades themselves never made it past average. Kenji, frankly, did not stand out. He was practically invisible to the class; he was someone who you'd normally only talk to in the mornings when you gave your classmates their courtesy 'Good morning'.

One minute he was here, _blink_, and the next he was gone. And no questions raised because his presence hadn't even properly registered in anyone's minds.

No one seemed to notice how Kenji seemed to be that extra face in their class who skipped out on all the exams their Chunin teacher gave them, or mysteriously disappeared whenever they had taijutsu practice.

That was not to say Kenji was stupid. No, he was a brilliant boy.

Why, Kenji could've easily been top of the class and taken shinobi of the year! But grades weren't important to him. Heck, he wasn't even officially registered in the class. All he was here for was a test – a challenge, and no one was any wiser, the little Chunin teacher included.

Kenji Yamada was just another face in the crowd, too drab and plain for anyone to notice – in fact, he was remarkably similar to other fleeting figures who'd cropped up in unusual rotations within the last months. Kagaru Shinto, Shime Tarou, Miru Okaname, Kiru Nagame, to name a few. They'd done everything from slipping into the crowd to tailing shinobi of various ranks.

All without anyone being any wiser (with the occasional too-close-for-comforts, of course).

And that was how Kakashi knew that his skills were still up to par (well, stealth at least), despite his physical appearance. Oh the uses of _Shadow Clones_ and _Henges_.

Kenji was Kakashi's last experiment, slipped into the Academy like he'd always belonged there.

In fact, it was almost odd being in that place after Kakashi had refused his acceptance into the institution. Sure the silver-haired Jounin-turned-boy swore off the Academy, but that didn't mean he wasn't still training on his own. The Academy took too much time and patience. The painfully slow, step-wise procedure of becoming a great ninja was not something Kakashi could suffer through again.

He was a Jounin; he'd been in Anbu. There was only so much he would take from the coddling he knew the adults would put upon him. And don't get him started on all the 'you're too young' spew that Kakashi _knew_ he would be receiving. Even when he was thirteen and receiving his rank as Jounin, they never stopped. He would never get anything done that way.

Plus, now he could spend as much time as he wanted with his dad. It was a win-win situation if you asked him.

There was no reason why he needed to be an official shinobi of Konoha. There was no reason to be acknowledged as a prodigy. The adults would only restrain him - watch him more closely. Kakashi didn't need that.

But don't mistake that as staying away from the action, oh no. Kakashi was more than happy, more than willing to risk it all for Konoha and his friends. He could not, and _would not_ watch his home fall once again.

And so, with this test labeled as a success, Kakashi knew he was ready to step up his game.

Pakkun was right. He was being too lazy; sometimes determination alone was not able to change things. He needed to act. Especially if he was going to obtain that ideal future he was so looking forward to.


	15. Threat

_A/N: I'm running on low sleep at the moment, but hopefully that hasn't increased the amount of errors. Thank you fermontie and __Veloren for catching the mistakes of last chapter!_

_Chapter 15: Threat_

* * *

With his first test finished and labeled a success, Kakashi, feeling elated, immediately set out to complete the next step of his plan.

When Sakumo left for a mission that week, Kakashi discreetly slipped along with him, trailing yards further and more cautiously than he ever had before; there was a reason why the White Fang had been such a feared shinobi after all. And of course, being on a constant _henge_ meant Kakashi was constantly exuding chakra around his body. The more cautious he was, the better.

_Henged_ into the convenient age (and height) he had been before the whole time-travelling business, Kakashi was certain he could fight properly if he needed to. There was also a sense of comfort being in the original lean form he'd lost so suddenly.

On his face, Kakashi wrapped a bright red scarf wrapped in place of his distinctive mask in order to draw attention away from his face, despite the _henge_ he'd already placed on it. He'd coloured his bright silver hair raven black for further distinction between himself and little Kakashi, and also tweaked his facial structure, giving himself a sturdier, broader look.

The mission started out as all missions did; the Jounin team Kakashi's father was in leaped quickly into the trees and sped out of Fire Country in a well-practiced formation. Kakashi trailed after his father and his teammates (Tetsu and Abume were their names, if Kakashi remembered correctly), certain he wouldn't be recognised should any of them manage to accidentally catch a glimpse of him - or in case he was forced with no choice but to join in a battle.

Although, if Kakashi was to be honest with himself, the only reason why he was there was simply to make himself feel like he actually was doing something other than just sitting around. As far as Kakashi could recall, nothing dangerous was going to happen on this mission. It was simple, straightforward, and the team could handle it efficiently with hardly a scratch to bring home – or at least that was how Kakashi remembered it to be.

Kakashi should've been tipped off something was wrong the moment he noticed that for a Jounin team, Sakumo, Tetsu, and Abume seemed to be traveling slower than expected. But Kakashi had been too dependent of the future's past to realize things were not right.

The time-traveler watched as the three-men team exchanged words for moment, spurring them to pick up the pace. Yet, their speed was still nowhere near what was expected of Jounin. The cause of it all, Kakashi noted with worried uneasiness, seemed to be from Sakumo. The man had seemed fine when man-turned-boy had bid him goodbye at the Village Gates, so what was wrong? What had Kakashi missed? It irked and frustrated Kakashi to no end he'd failed to notice something off in his dad even after the many days he'd spend with him.

Kakashi desperately tried to draw on the comfort of future reports that had spelled out the success of the current mission as a way to keep his bubbling fears from surfacing, but things only seemed to get worse as the day went on.

The Konoha team were nearly a day into their mission when, without a warning, a team of Iwa nin had surrounded the group. Kakashi's pulse raced as he noticed the ambush just as the Konoha Jounin team had. He watched from his spot half hidden behind the trees, limbs twitching, impatient and eager to jump into battle. It was agonizing to watch; he couldn't just sit there and do _nothing_. Kakashi was a shinobi; he'd sworn to fight for his fellow comrades the moment he accepted his headband. Sitting idly in the sidelines when he was so very able to fight went against everything he lived for. And yet, Kakashi knew he had to if he didn't want to change the future of this mission.

Teeth biting into his lip hard enough to draw blood, Kakashi barely managed to keep himself in place. He tried to distract himself by training his eyes on Sakumo and Tetsu working in tandem, marveling at their combined jutsu. His eyes only flickered towards the great sparking lightening rock spheres that were their combined attack, before they were drawn abruptly by a startled cry.

"Sakumo!" Kakashi's eye widened as they snapped back down towards the ground, hearing the cry from the man he recognised as Abume.

A bubble of fear floating under Kakashi's chest. A shout of '_What did I overlook? Was dad actually not feeling well?' _echoed quickly, mentally, through Kakashi's head before the man forced the thought away to focus on the present. Because his dad _had_ to be fine in the end. That was why Kakashi had been trying so desperately not to jump in and join the brawl. Kakashi hadn't done anything to change the future. _He hadn't._

Sakumo seemed to be doing fine despite that initial blunder. The older Hatake's eyes were narrowed into a serious glare, flickering rapidly around to survey the area. His head was clearly back into the game as the man then launched efficient attacks in succession to the unfortunate Iwa nin who chose the White Fang as his opponent.

_'See, he's__ fine.' _Kakashi let out his unknowingly held breath in an unsteady stream of air.

And yet still…

Something seemed off. Sakumo didn't seem like he was giving it his all. There was something about the way his dad moved that didn't flow gracefully like the dance Kakashi was used to. There was a slight, almost unnoticeable hesitance in Sakumo's every move; it was like he was distracted by something. Something like…

Suddenly, in a flash of realisation, all of Sakumo's actions up until now made perfect sense to Kakashi. It was him; it was Kakashi himself! His dad had noticed him - it was as simple as that.

And now, Sakumo was focusing too much attention on him, deeming Kakashi the biggest threat of them all.

Kakashi wasn't sure what he was supposed to do to help. The idea to leave, removing himself so that Sakumo could focused solely on his battle, crossed the time-traveler's mind. But then, what would Sakumo think when Kakashi's presence suddenly disappeared? Would it set him into a greater worry, thinking Kakashi was moving to ambush him when he least expected it?

But Kakashi couldn't stay here anymore; he was causing his dad's faltering actions. In his mind, the Jounin ran through a series of possible courses of actions, hoping to find one that could help. Every idea Kakashi could think of would ultimately catch Sakumo's attention more than he already had, but Kakashi had no choice; in the end, Kakashi settled on the decision to stay where he was, but to stop suppressing his chakra. At the very least, in this case, Sakumo would know he was there without having to strain his senses in Kakashi's general position, nor have to spend extraneous energy trying to track a moving Kakashi.

With that in mind, the silver-haired man slowly leaked more chakra into the air, exuding what he had previously been trying so hard to keep inside.

The mental run of the scenario had seemed fine in Kakashi's mind. In real life, however ... not so much. Kakashi hadn't expected the sudden halt in every muscle of his dad's body as Sakumo's head practically snapped towards where he was hiding not even two seconds into his plan. And then from these two seconds onwards, everything went wrong.

The glow of Sakumo's silver hair swishing behind him as it caught the light was what had alerted Kakashi to the movement behind his dad. Sakumo was standing stiff and unaware to the whole thing, eyes strained towards Kakashi's location. Behind him, Kakashi could see the glinting of a sword moving closer and closer, even as the distinct '_shing_' sound of unsheathing the sword was completely absent. _Closer and closer and closer..._

"D- Sakumo!" Kakashi cried out before he could help himself, only momentarily tripping over the word.

Sakumo snapped into action at the words, as if breaking out of his trance and realising where he was. But his dad wasn't going to be quick enough to dodge, Kakashi noted, feeling a cold wave washing over him.

And how right he was.

Kakashi froze at the scene in front of him. This wasn't right. Kakashi stared, mesmerised by the slow flow of blood dripping like crossing tattoos as the liquid oozed down the man's arm, aided by gravity. This was not supposed to happen. _Sakumo was not supposed to get hurt._

Kakashi remember his dad's missions – well, maybe not all of them, but he could clearly remember the times his old man got hurt. He had always been a dutiful son who'd looked up to his father (except after that one faithful mission of Sakumo's but Kakashi would rather not dwell on that), asking the man's status after missions, tracking the man's mission to be used for his own experiences. He was certain Sakumo never had any injuries, especially ones to the arm, in any of his missions with Tetsu and Abume as his teammates.

This was not right. Kakashi was changing things when he didn't mean to.

Sakumo never knew he was straying from his past as the man merely shrugged off the injury to draw out his famed tanto. Kakashi watched with baited breath, hoping nothing more would go wrong, as the White Fang lunged, his arm swiping and white chakra highlighting his blade's path behind him.

The moment the Iwa-nin dodged, Kakashi's hands were already slammed into the ox seal, desperate to assist Sakumo. Kakashi held the hand-seal tight, mentally telling himself not to be rash. The slightest wavering of his self-restraint the moment Sakumo's head turned minutely towards Kakashi's hidden location _yet again_, was enough for Kakashi to speed through the rest of his hand seals.

"_Chidori senbon,_" Kakashi hissed from under his scarf. The time-traveller stepped half a foot out from behind the trees as he formed his Chidori into lightening charged needles. Kakashi watched in success as the sebon hit its mark. The Iwa nin stiffened, electricity shocking his nerves, before the man fell to the ground, paralyzed.

Everything was good and well for a second, before Kakashi realised what he had just done. He hadn't meant to show himself to his father. Honestly, he hadn't, but the sight of blood dripping down Sakumo's arms, the idea that someone _dared_ to harm his dad right in front of his eyes, and the possibility that it could happen once more, threw him into that unhesitant retaliation.

"Who are you?" Sakumo demanded, turning on Kakashi, his chakra flaring as a warning.

Kakashi tried not to let his worry show for his dad. "Woah, calm, White Fang. You're hurt; you should save your chakra." His words meant nothing as his father's chakra flared again, eyes narrowing dangerously at the _henged_ Kakashi.

"I said 'who are you'?" he repeated, voice hard.

"Just an ally." Kakashi watched as Sakumo's grey eyes narrowed even further at his words. "Honest!" he cried, as Sakumo's grip on his famed chakra blade tightened.

Kakashi was willing to call himself strong, but even he didn't want to go against Sakumo, Konoha's White Fang. The man was a legend whose name _still_ invoked fear in the future he was from. Being the man's son, Kakashi had never been on the bad side of the White Fang, and quite honestly, he _never_ wanted to either.

So, of course, as luck would have it, the man looked more than ready to fight him off.

Kakashi took a step back, hands raised. "I mean no harm," he tried, "Save your chakra; you're aggravating your wounds, White Fang." The Jounin could feel his chest tighten in anxiety as Sakumo stared hard enough to look right through him. Illogical fear in Kakashi made him wished he had thought longer, and tried harder than the flimsy disguise he had on now because he was certain if Sakumo stared any longer the man would _see_ under his henge. Kakashi tried to look as innocent, as non-dangerous, as he could in order to stop the man from harboring any more suspicion onto his henged self, but that itself was quite hard considering he was a shinobi who'd once been dangerous enough to make it into the Bingo books.

For a second, however, Kakashi though he'd succeeded. And then the White Fang disappeared.

Torn between reacting and being seen as the enemy, or not moving and being caught, Sakumo made the decision for Kakashi when he grabbed the disguised man's arms into a hold and slammed his scarfed face into the ground. The pain cleared quickly, only for Kakashi to hear "You're coming back with us" from Sakumo in an unusually vicious tone.

Kakashi didn't know what he did that angered his dad so much, but he tried to answer as flippantly as he could to diffuse the situation. "Is this how you treat people who help you?"

Nothing in Sakumo's voice changed. "You are an unknown threat to Konoha."

A _threat?_ Kakashi had been trying his damn hardest not to be seen as a threat. Well, actually he hadn't expected to be _seen_ in the first place. Everything was going awful.

Kakashi tried to shift his body into a more comfortable position, but that only enticed Sakumo to shove him harder, restricting his movements even further. This was going nowhere. The only action Kakashi could take at this point was a tactile retreat. Kakashi had already considered it the moment Sakumo had detected him, but the sight of the changing timeline had kept him rooted in place, unable to leave in case anything else went wrong. And what was worse was that anything that would go wrong would've been _his_ _fault _too.

But what else could he do now, as clearly Sakumo wasn't going to be listening to him anytime soon. Kakashi sighed in defeat. "Alright, have it your way."

With a heavy heart, only half certain he really, really wanted to let his dad finish the mission alone now that everything seemed out of line with the past already, Kakashi delved inside of his soul, pulling at his own chakra. When he found it, he sliced at it, discontinuing the flow.

With a silent _puff, _Kakashi was gone.


	16. Fear

_Now we have Sakumo's version of the mission.  
__And thank you fermontie for finding the mistakes of last chapter._

_Chapter 16: Fear_

* * *

**Earlier**

Sakumo had left the village feeling paranoid. The moment he set foot out of the village gates, he couldn't help but feel _something_ following after every movement his team made. Perhaps it was due to having spent his entire break with Kakashi, but Sakumo's mind kept telling him it was his son back there. However, that couldn't be right; that was ridiculous! _Why_ would Kakashi be following him, and not to mention _how_.

"Are you alright there, Sakumo?" one of the jounin in front of him asked, seeing the man lagging behind.

The silver-haired man frowned momentarily before shaking his head. "Just stay vigilant, Tetsu, Abume," he said to his two teammates, casting a final check back before speeding up with the them.

The team hopped up the trees as Sakumo snorted to himself, suddenly feeling like a hopeless, over-loving dad. Why was he thinking Kakashi was everywhere? That persistent nagging feeling absolutely _must've_ been the manifestation of Sakumo's desire to be by his son. What else could it be? The Hatake took a deep breath, pushing aside his parental thoughts and narrowed his eyes in an attempt to focus on the road ahead. "Let's keep up the pace," he said as the others beside him nodded. Sakumo was determined not to let his baseless paranoia get the better of him.

The mission was straightforward – sneak into an enemy camp just outside of their country border and to retrieve their scrolls for Konoha's intelligence team. They'd obtained information that Iwa nin would be crossing Fire Country grounds with a scroll bearing information about certain plans detailing ideas of betrayal against an allied country.

What should have been a relatively fast journey – definitely with enough time to set up and traps before the enemy arrived - lagged longer than expected. And it was mainly Sakumo's fault too, the man was ashamed to admit.

The prickling eyes what Sakumo tried to pretend was nothing, was more distracting than the man liked to admit. He'd lost focus many times to have his senses drawn towards that seemingly familiar chakra lurking just too far away.

His eyes saw nothing, but his senses screamed _something._

His guts told him to worry, but something else in him told him it was no threat and to just ignore it.

Sakumo was torn between believing his instincts or believing his honed experiences. No one else around him seemed to notice this stalker. Or, if they had, they weren't worried about it.

Sakumo wondered for one impossibly quick second that perhaps he was too old nowadays, imagining things that weren't there. But then again, the stalker just might've been just that good at hiding his presence. After all, Sakumo hadn't been hailed as a shinobi equal in status to the Legendary Three for nothing. But whatever it was, the constant nagging presence and knowledge that someone, or something, was keeping watch on them, made Sakumo weary.

To be able to hide from everyone but himself made this stalker a huge threat and warranted more than enough reason for Sakumo to keep his outwardly-oblivious but absolutely sharp watch on him. It was tiring to keep a slither of chakra trained on the stalker throughout the whole mission – low enough that the other couldn't detect, but strong enough that he never lost hold of the other's movements.

Perhaps it was that utterly sloppy, distracted attention Sakumo gave to his actual mission as a result, that was Sakumo's greatest mistake. It was far too late when the team realised they were surrounded – something Sakumo would swear himself blind that he _would've_ been able to detect ages ago had he not been so distracted.

But still, as Sakumo fought, he wouldn't get the stalker's chakra out of his senses because someone that skilled and so unknown had to have been following them for a reason. And what kind of ninja would Sakumo be if he didn't consider the possibility that the stalker and the army of enemy ninja around his team were not just any ol' coincidence?

"In formation," Sakumo called out under his breath as he caught his teammates' eyes.

The Konoha ninjas leaped together into a defensive circle with their backs touching. Their eyes were sharp and diligent as they surveyed their surroundings.

"Shit, when did this happen?" Tetsu cursed, dropping into a ready stance as his team moved over slightly to give him room. Tetsu's teammates stood on guard around him as the man sped through his handseals before ending with the bird seal. "_Doton: Doryuso no Jutsu, _(Earth Release: Earth Style Spears)" he cried.

Sakumo placed his hands in the monkey seal with a barely audible "Raiton" on his lips, releasing Lightning chakra to coat the showering earth spears. The Hatake's sharp eyes followed the enemy around them, trying to keep track of everything. Yet, he couldn't help himself as his eyes continuously strayed over to where the prickling stare of the unnamed shinobi gazed endlessly over at them.

"Sakumo!" Abume yelled, quick hands yanking the back of the jounin's vest just as an Iwa-nin emerged from under him. Abume deflected the ninja's weapons with two successive shots of kunai, before dislodging the enemy with a strong, vicious kick in the chest.

Sakumo shook his head clear. "Thanks," he shot back over.

Not letting himself dwell on his mistake, the Hatake shifted his body into a ready stance. It was just in time as another Rock ninja rushed at him, assuming he was too distracted to deflect properly. Sakumo surprised him with a slam in the shoulders.

The two ninjas engaged in a vicious fight, exchanging blows for blows, knowing not to underestimate the other. Around him, Sakumo could sense his teammates, Tetsu and Abume involved in their own scuffles.

Sakumo was holding onto his own. He was doing fine.

No, that was wrong; Sakumo hadn't realised just how much focus he'd had directed at where he knew the unknown ninja hid, until he'd lost concentration on his own battle the moment he'd felt a sudden spike of chakra emitted from that way. No one but himself reacted to it, having been the only one with his senses honed strongly to that direction to even notice it in the first place.

The White Fang hadn't realised he'd snapped his head over, silver hair swishing behind him as his limbs unconsciously shifted to anticipate whatever it was the stalker was doing. He hadn't realised just how much attention he'd taken away from the battle to be directed at that pin slither of foreign chakra until a shout of his name caught his attention.

Without even the time to register who'd warned him, the Hatake's mind swirled back inwards to the battle at hand, just in time to catch a wind of movement from behind. Arms drew into a tight cross in front of his body, hoping to take the brute of the attack.

A flicker of light glimmered as it reflected off a dull metallic surface, and then _pain._ Sakumo barely had time to grunt from the injury before the sword withdrew from his arm, a tail of glistening red blood trailing behind it. Sakumo growled sharply, but otherwise ignoring the throbbing flesh wound he received. Sakumo paid no heed to the crimson droplets decorating his movements as he unsheathed his own tanto, swiping it expertly at the enemy. The Iwa shinobi dodged. It was in that second that lightning senbon flew out from where Sakumo had least expected it - and pierced straight through the Iwa nin.

Sakumo let out a hiss of air in surprise, jumping back, his heart beating like mad.

With a quick glance at the fallen enemy paralyzed on the ground, then at the progress of his own teammates, Sakumo turned towards where he _definitely_ knew was the location of the stalking shinobi.

The unknown shinobi was stepped in front of the looming shadows of trees where he had hidden himself, forced out when he had unleashed his jutsu. The man kept in a low, defensive stance. His dark eyes, visible like featuring displays above the hem of his bright red scarf, stared sharp and calculatingly at Sakumo. If the White Fang weren't lying to himself, he would've said that he was certain those piercing eyes looked as though they knew more about Sakumo than Sakumo did of himself.

It was unnerving.

There was a silence as the silver-haired man expertly wiped off the blood on his hands and adjusted his hold on this weapon into a stance bearing no weaknesses. "Who are you?" Sakumo asked, his voice sharp, but he couldn't help the tilt of curious anger that accompanied the words.

When the other man kept quiet still, Sakumo let out a deep growl, pulling what chakra he could spare into an intimidating swirling aura.

Worry was the last thing Sakumo expected from the unknown ninja, and yet, it was worry that crossed the man's eyes at that exact moment. "Woah, calm, White Fang. You're hurt; you should save your chakra." Sakumo could feel his clutch on his weapon slacken an inch as he hesitated before he steeled himself once more, flaring his chakra in warning for a greater effect. He couldn't let the unknown nin know he'd almost unconsciously lowered his guard.

Sakumo clenched his teeth, pushing out all emotion in his tone. His grey eyes traced the lithe outline of the other man, suddenly hyperaware of the familiarity in his figure. "I said 'who are you'?" Sakumo demanded, trying to ignore the blanket of confusion that was threatening to tuck around him. He seemed so familiar suddenly, but goddamnit, Sakumo couldn't place a name to the face. There was something about the way the other man stood, the way he tilted his head as he talked, the way his haunted dark eyes looked over at Sakumo, that had the White Fang's whole soul screaming at him to _recognise._ But for the life of him, he couldn't conjure up an image of any man with those features.

He felt like he was building a jigsaw, presented with all the necessary pieces, but unable to fit them together. And Sakumo supposed the man looked generic enough to be just about _anybody_, with his standard jounin flak jacket and jet black hair.

Sakumo had shifted his attention to the unknown ninja's face when the man finally answered, "Just an ally". The Hatake deepened his gaze, mind desperately trying to run through the faces of everyone he knew once more, but he came up short yet again. "Honest!" the man cried out, as if sensing Sakumo's thoughts.

_Lie_. The word echoed in the White Fang's mind. He was trying to catch Sakumo off guard; that had to be it. The man's chakra was an utterly useless identification marker, selectively suppressed such that any recognisable features of it was muted – and, Sakumo was certain, the man also had an ability to manipulate his signature, if the slight nag of comforting familiarity in it was any indication. Undoubtedly the man was trying to get Sakumo to lower his guard - again.

"I mean no harm. Save your chakra; you're aggravating your wounds, White Fang," the man exclaimed just as quickly, taking a step backwards. Sakumo's eyes followed the man's gloved hands as he lifted them upwards, making sure the unnamed shinobi wasn't going to flick out any hidden needles.

But the man didn't do anything.

'_Is he holding up his hands in surrender?'_

Sakumo narrowed his eyes trying to find fault in his action, because the man was a ninja, and ninjas had no honour. To lie and trick and cheat their way to victory was the ninja way, Sakumo knew, despite how much he hated that policy himself.

In a flash, Sakumo appeared behind the scarfed man, pushing the unknown ninja face to the ground, twisting his arm behind his back to prevent the man from doing whatever he had planned. The man below him let out a pained hiss but Sakumo paid him no heed. He tried to ignore the sudden whiff of _Kakashi_ that seemed to emit from the man.

"You're coming back with us," Sakumo stated harshly, suddenly enraged by the scent.

"Is this how you treat people who help you?" the man retorted in a muffled voice.

"You are an unknown threat to Konoha," Sakumo replied plainly, voice never losing its metallic touch.

The man below Sakumo wiggled awkwardly as Sakumo only pushed his head harder into the ground. Finally the scarfed man let out a defeated huff, and his body slumped, losing fight. "Alright," The man agreed, "Have it your way." And then in a puff, he was gone, smoke slipping through Sakumo's fingers like whispers in the wind.

"Shadow clone," The White Fang muttered to himself in annoyance. Sakumo stood up dusting off his hands, but his eyes vigilantly scanned the area in case the original was nearby. There was nothing there. Not even that little niggling feeling Sakumo had from the beginning of the mission was present anymore.

Sakumo gave a low curse under his breath knowing the unknown ninja had gotten away. His grey eyes slid to his teammates. They'd managed to finish up their own battle just only a moment before, and were wiping their blood-coated kunai in a calm ease above the dead in a way only someone of their profession could manage. Abume nodded over at the White Fang while holding out a roll of bandages for the man. Beside him, Tetsu juggled the scroll he nicked from the unconscious Rock-nin. "We're lucky these men were the ninjas we were looking for. I was afraid we might've alerted them and they'd sent an ambush team at us instead."

The Hatake nodded, content in staying quiet and still letting his sense stretch around him. When he was absolutely certain that nothing was nearby, he gave out his orders. "If they're here that means their teammates must be close by. Or at least coming this way soon," Sakumo said as his team nodded in agreement. "Set up an ambush. Let's get this mission over with as soon as possible."

And if his words seemed like they were rigid and rushed, Sakumo supposed it was only fair considering the raging maelstrom in his mind that was composed completely of fear. – Because somehow, the unknown shinobi had gotten Kakashi's scent on him, and Sakumo dreaded to wonder _how_.


	17. Dangerous

_A/N: Sorry this chapter's a day late; I forgot to upload it on Friday.  
And, as always, a thousand thanks to fermontie!_

_Chapter 17: Dangerous_

* * *

Sakumo and his team split up as soon as they had handed in their scrolls to the Konoha Intelligence Unit upon reaching Konoha. Tetsu and Abume had left to give their mission report to the Hokage while Sakumo had left for the hospital. The medic nin was just finished dressing Sakumo's wound when the Hokage strolled in.

"Hokage-sama." The silver-haired man started to rise in greeting just as the old man held up his hand.

"No need." Sarutobi nodded, dismissing the nurses, before turning back to his Jounin. "Sakumo, I heard you came across an unexpected help in your mission," the Hokage said, straight to the point. At the White Fang's dip of the head, the Hokage continued on. "I've gotten the debriefing from your teammates, but they advised me to speak with you about the man. You were the one with the most contact with him?"

"Correct, Hokage-sama." Sakumo clenched his fist at the memory of the unknown ninja standing in front of him, trying to act all innocent despite having _stalked_ them throughout their entire mission. There was no hesitation as Sakumo voiced all that he could about the shinobi who'd smelled too strongly of Kakashi for Sakumo to just ignore.

"I see." The Hokage replied when Sakumo was finished spilling out everything. What exactly the Hokage saw, Sakumo didn't know. All he had were his own suspicions, and none of them sounded any better than the next.

"The first thing I thought was that he wanted me to think he was Kakashi," Sakumo began, voicing his thoughts, "But that was ridiculous. Kakashi's five, and he was clearly in his mid- or early- twenties. Besides, in any case, there was absolutely no reason why Kakashi would follow me out on a mission.

"Then, I thought perhaps he was a Hatake," Sakumo continued, "Or at least trying to pass himself off as a Hatake." Which wouldn't have worked considering Sakumo was certain he and his son were the only living members of the Hatake Clan left. Not to mention the unknown ninja had raven black hair as opposed to the Hatakes' distinctive silver colouring. "Both ideas sounded hilariously ludicrous." Sakumo highly doubted any enemy nin would try those obviously futile tactics.

"Yes," the Hokage agreed thoughtfully, "Then this leads us to a third conclusion – it was a threat. The scarfed ninja wanted you to notice he'd gotten close to Kakashi."

Sakumo bit his lip in a nervous gesture. "Yes, I thought about that." A gradual tone of panic rose in Sakumo's voice. "But how? When?!"

"I'm afraid I do not know," the Hokage responded. The old man articulated each word in a calm, even manner, no doubt trying to sooth Sakumo's frantic thoughts with his tone.

But Sakumo ignored the comforting force the Hokage tried to convey. The thought of an unknown ninja sneaking around in their village, who'd gotten close enough to Kakashi to be able to have Kakashi's scent linger on his clothes, frightened Sakumo too much. Sakumo would let _no one_ use his little boy as bait.

**x**

When Sakumo rushed back to the Compound that day after expressing his worries to the Hokage, the man immediately sought out Kakashi. The moment Sakumo saw his little boy sitting on the roof of their compound, Sakumo grabbed him, turning him over, searching for injuries. Who knew if that damned unknown shinobi approached Kakashi again while he was finishing up his mission?

Kakashi, as any five-year-old would, tried to struggle out of the man's hold. "What's the matter?" Kakashi cried as his father manhandled him.

With his son in his arms, the White Fang hopped off the roof, settling the two of them back on solid ground. He looked over Kakashi once more, strong arms wrapped around the boy to keep him in place. Sakumo pressed his face into his son's hair, trying to catch a whiff of anything foreign.

"_What_?" Kakashi stressed again, trying to wiggle away.

"Kakashi," Sakumo began, voice with more fear than he intended, "Have you seen anyone suspicious hanging around?"

The masked boy stopped where he was, tipping his head. "Why?" he asked, sounding too curious for Sakumo's liking. There was _something_ in his voice as Kakashi had said this, but Sakumo couldn't place a name to it. Had that damned shinobi honestly _dared_ to approach Kakashi?

Sakumo stood, feeling his back stiffen at the idea. It took two tries for the older man to unclench his teeth from the tight grimace he held them in. "When was this?" The man demanded, unable to help the vicious hiss that coated his words.

From his anger filled mind, Sakumo could make out the sudden flinch in his boy. The older Hatake abruptly took a deep breath, forcing his breathing even, and a semi-calm façade back on his face. "Sorry," Sakumo began again, holding a soft hand on Kakashi's shoulder, feeling a tight tension in them. "I didn't mean to sound mad at you. I'm not," Sakumo placated. "It's just that if that man had gotten in contact with you in any form … He's dangerous," Sakumo growled out.

Kakashi blinked for a second before looking up at him, eyes looking wary. "'That man'? 'Dangerous'?"

"Yes." Sakumo nodded, before realising he'd failed to describe the man to Kakashi, in the frantic frame of mind he was in. "He is roughly an inch shorter than myself. Lithe form. Pale skin. Dark black hair. He was wearing standard shinobi garbs with a bright red scarf wrapped around his lower face. Perhaps in his mid twenties."

Something, what Sakumo could only describe as 'hope' (but he dearly hoped he'd read that wrong), seemed to sink from Kakashi's staring eyes. "Ah, him."

"Where did you see him?" The older Hatake pressed, hoping hard it was nothing like what he was fearing.

His son kept quiet for a second before giving a lazy shrug of the shoulders. "He was standing by the Village Gates when I was there bidding your team goodbye," he said blandly. Sakumo wanted to laugh, suddenly realising he might've been overreacting just a bit if all Kakashi's contact with him was merely observation from afar.

But wait, how did that explain the scent of Kakashi lingering on the man? He must've approached his son. "Did he say anything to you?"

Sakumo watched, almost wishing he could yell at his son to '_Hurry up and spit it out already!_' without scaring him, as the boy gave a lackadaisical stretch. It also didn't help when Kakashi ignored his question. "What did he do?" he asked instead.

"That's not important, Kakashi."

"What did he do that makes you think he's so dangerous?" Kakashi persisted.

Sakumo wanted brush it off again, but there was a silent plead in his son's eyes, almost drowning the boy's grey-blues, that Sakumo couldn't ignore. "He was following my team throughout our whole mission. He may be an enemy," the man offered.

"So he attacked you?"

"… no."

"Then what did he do?"

Sakumo couldn't understand why Kakashi was so unrelenting about the whole thing. "That's not important."

"If he didn't attack you, then he saved you," Kakashi reasoned, fingers slayed out in front of him in an annoyed gesture. "Why are you insisting so badly that he's the enemy then?"

"Because he _is_. For all we know, we just had a common enemy. Just because he was insisting he was an ally and that he meant no harm to us doesn't mean it's true."

"Maybe he _was_ telling the truth," Kakashi insisted trying to hold intact his frustration at his father's stubbornness. "What if he _was_ an ally?"

A frown appeared on the White Fang's face. "No. If he had Konoha's best interest in mind, he would've gone and become a registered shinobi. Vigilantes have their own hidden agendas," Sakumo said sharply. The man's eyes focused on Kakashi's face, trying to read what emotions he could from his son, because it sounded like Kakashi was eager to protect this man, and Sakumo feared it was because the unknown ninja had had contact with his precious son already - and who knows what he'd managed to convince Kakashi?

Kakashi looked past Sakumo, eyes sliding off to the side of his father's face into a long-yard stare. "I suppose," the boy murmured finally conceding to the fact.

The reluctant agreement tugged uneasily around Sakumo's heart. "Promise me," he said suddenly, jolting Kakashi's attention back to him, "Promise me the moment you see him again – or anyone suspicious – tell me straight away."

The silver-haired time-traveler could hear the worried panic in his father's tone at the idea that Kakashi could've been involved with this 'unknown threat', and he really didn't want to worry him any further. The masked boy nodded softly. "Alright," Kakashi finally replied. "I promise I will." _And since his henged double worried his dad so much,_ "I'm certain you'll never run into him ever again," Kakashi said in comforting certainty.

"You never know," Sakumo retorted.

"I think your stubborn suspicions of him are more than enough to drive him away," Kakashi commented in a weak, almost humourless laugh.

"Good," Sakumo said firmly. Because if that damned self-appointed ninja ever approached his son, there would be hell to pay.


	18. Reminiscence

_A/N: I feel like I'm trying to delay the inevitable ...  
Oh, and I noticed a lot of new names who reviewed/faved/etc. Welcome, and thankful for your wonderful support :) And of course I can't forget thanking especially those who've been actively reviewing every chapter every week!_

_Chapter 18: Reminiscence_

* * *

In the days between Sakumo's missions, the Hatake men took to spending time together. It was supposed to be joyful and relaxing as the parent and child heedlessly strolled through their village or dined out.

These days they were anything but, in Kakashi's opinion, watching his father's tensed, paranoid posture as they headed out of the Hatake Compound. In a way, the boy supposed, he couldn't blame Sakumo. It wasn't the man's fault he was so afraid the 'unknown' ninja would try to contact Kakashi again.

Nevertheless, the jounin-turned-boy tried to stay as happy and carefree as he could for his father sake. Kakashi kept a loving smile under his mask as he looked over at his father, certain that despite his mask, Sakumo would notice it. What he made of it, however, was completely out of Kakashi's control. So, in all honesty, he wasn't surprised with the explanation Sakumo had conjured up for Kakashi's unusually affectionate personality.

"Any reason why you look like you're trying to butter me up for something?" Sakumo asked, amusement in his tone, one day as the two were taking a stroll through the village.

Kakashi widened his eyes boyishly over at him, drawing an innocent face. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said rather unconvincingly.

The older Hatake raised an eyebrow, looking over at his son.

Kakashi shrugged his little shoulders, unable to help the growing grin on his face. As his mind went through his repertoire of snarky, teasing quips that would be appropriate to shoot back at his dad (it wouldn't do to say anything a little _too_ perverted, after all), the sounds of children's laughter suddenly caught his ears.

The boy unknowingly turned towards the sound, his movements slowing down gradually to a stiff, abrupt stop. Kakashi had to force himself not to rub at the spot above his heart; his chest had a soft achy feeling he'd _thought_ he'd gotten rid of now that his life was somewhat back into a sort of normalcy. It seemed like he was wrong - he hadn't.

Sakumo was hesitant when the man gently placed a warm hand by the crook of Kakashi's pale neck. "Is something the matter, Kid?" he asked, halting the pace he was walking in order to stand beside his suddenly frozen son.

Kakashi was silent. In fact he hadn't even heard Sakumo. Kakashi tried to blink off the memories that were suddenly assaulting him from all senses. Because he _wasn't_ in the future, and those weren't his kids – and frankly it'd been ages since his kids had laughed so young and innocently nowadays, not with war and betrayal haunting their every smile. And this wasn't _Kakashi's_ Academy (not for another good twenty or so years), where he'd met his kids, or had been chased by the generation after ("Help me grab the pervert's mask," Naruto had shouted. "Yes Boss!" the Konohamaru Corps had responded with equally mischievous faces).

Kakashi's eyes sought out the windows of the Academy they were standing in front of, looking for a brunet he'd only met once and yet he knew far too much about (courtesy of Naruto), and who _wouldn't_ be there, because like him and all the other shinobi Kakashi had gotten to know, they were all still children and ignorant of the war to come. And he'd tried not to look too hard at the lone swing tied to the tree in front of the Academy that he knew Naruto had spent most of his lonely days sitting on, or the rooftop that was much cleaner and newer than the place he'd gotten his kids to introduce themselves. Because this _wasn't_ his future anymore, no matter how much he both hated and loved the idea.

"Kakashi."

Grey-blue eyes slowly rotated upwards, before a smile Kakashi hadn't realised he'd lost was drawn back on his face. "Yes, dad?" he asked lightly.

Sakumo pursed his lips into a line, eyes sliding where Kakashi had been looking at. The white mud walls and orange tiled roof of the Academy stood before him, children running mindlessly, happily around in their Lunch break. "Looks like they're having fun," he commented, gesturing over.

Kakashi shrugged. "I suppose so." The boy glanced up knowing Sakumo had more to say.

"Are you- Do you want to attend?"

The boy could feel the muscles of his face slipping his smile into something more natural as amusement of the idea flooded through him. "Not particularly," he said. He would be a terror for the Chunin teachers.

Uncertainty fleeted quickly across Sakumo's face. "Are you sure? It could be arranged - no hassle."

Kakashi paused at the concern in his father's voice, wondering for a moment what he had shown on his face in that quick second after he'd heard the children's laughter. Loneliness? Longing? Regret? He didn't know how Team Seven, with their unique quirks, had managed to discreetly worm their way into his heart so efficiently. "Quite certain." There was a hint of disappointment under Sakumo's grey eyes Kakashi almost missed, if it weren't for the months of staring into his dad's face, trying to carve every crease, line, and action into memory without the Sharingan. "Why, do you want me to?"

Sakumo shook his head, letting his gloved hands pull his son into to half hug. "Not if you don't want to," he murmured sincerely.

Kakashi stood in his dad's embrace as a thought struck his mind. "Oh, you're worried," he said. The White Fang gave a soft, noncommittal hum from the back of his throat, which Kakashi took as a yes. "Because you think –" -_that I'm lonely. -that I should be around children of my own age. –that it would keep me safe._ "-that I should learn to better protect myself should that unknown ninja come back."

"Don't take him so lightly," the man chided, most likely reacting to the blasé tone Kakashi used.

"He won't be back."

"You never know," Sakumo said, repeating the same sentence in the same sharp bark he'd used days before.

Kakashi worked a small smile on his little face. "Well, if _I_ can help it, then he won't be back," the boy offered.

The time-traveler tried to ignore the sudden panic on his father's face. "Don't get involved, he's –"

"-dangerous," Kakashi finished for the man, in the soft tone he'd been using the whole time, "Yes, I know. I won't. I promise."

Sakumo nodded, giving his son a comforting rub on the back before a playful shove to get them moving once more. "I'll hold you to that promise," he said.

Kakashi only smiled sadly, facing off to the side where his father couldn't see. "... alright then. For you."


	19. Premonition

_A/N: Regarding last chapter, to be honest, __the possibility of Obito appearing before Kakashi so soon didn't even occur to me while writing the chapter__, but clearly that was only me... The thing about Obito and the Academy, well, they'll appear soon. Eventually. (let's hope you don't lose interest before we get there XD)  
And hugs and thanks to fermontie for correcting mistakes of the previous chapters. _

_Chapter 19: Premonition_

* * *

The sky was cast in a positively orange hue as the sun sank slowly off to the beyond, between the tall, majestic trees that littered the outskirts of Konoha. The clouds were stretched into wispy cotton fluffs hiding sparsely across the sky. It was so very much like the usual calm scenery Kakashi occasionally stared listlessly at to pass the hours, and yet so very much _not _like it at all; there was a mess of dark black paint mixed in that orange canvas that swirled so eerily it drew an ominous feeling from deep within Kakashi.

The man-turned-boy stared at the sky with his head leaned against the bark of a tree in the middle of the Compound. His gloved fingers flickered mindlessly through the opened book propped against his crossed leg, mind continuously returning to the apprehensive feeling the sight provoked. Kakashi hoped it wasn't a premonition of something horrible to come, because that would be an awful coincidence.

But apparently fate loved coincidences.

"I'll be leaving on a mission tomorrow," Sakumo said as soon as he entered the compound.

At first, Kakashi didn't think too much of it. "Okay," the silver-haired boy replied, resting his head on the tree he was leaning against as he looked down from the spread of the sky. "Is it going to take-" Words cut off as Kakashi's mind caught up to the date. For all his life, there were certain dates Kakashi could never forget, no matter how hard he tried to shove them where they could resurface no more. Today was one of them.

Dread filled Kakashi's stomach as he tried to pull his way out of the onslaught of memories that suddenly piled down on him, broken free the moment he let himself remember. From his numb fingers, his book fell on the floor with a loud, echoing _bam._

Sakumo looked up at the sound. He whipped his head back, kunai already in hand and posed to attack. "What's wrong?" he asked when he assured himself they were still, in fact, alone.

Kakashi didn't answer, the sudden realisation hitting him too hard. For a while Kakashi had thought he had changed enough of the past to the point where Sakumo wouldn't have to take that damned mission once more. But that wasn't the case; he'd only shifted the timeline in Konoha a bit. The clients outside still came on time to request their missions as they did once before, because while Kakashi was an inconsistent being in the past who threatened a continuous, identical future to the one he came from, Kakashi was still only a minor change – and one that was confined to Konoha too. Kakashi's actions had little effect on the bigger world outside his village, especially only with the tiny, minuscule changes he had instigated.

And so the client's order, sent from outside of Fire Country, came as it had once in the past, never knowing the oddity that was Kakashi, who had slipped into the time stream. And from that client was Sakumo's mission – a fate the man couldn't escape. That mission – tomorrow's mission – it would take two weeks, Kakashi remembered, and the day Sakumo came back, he would forever be outcast by the rest of the village.

_Kakashi hadn't changed a thing._

He couldn't … Kakashi wouldn't let his old man go through that again. Not when he still had the chance to stop him. "I- I don't feel well," Kakashi murmured in a petulant voice, hoping Sakumo would stay and care for him instead of leaving for the mission. It was a sad, futile hope however, and Kakashi knew it; Sakumo was a shinobi just as much as he was a father, and a mission was a mission, and the White Fang hadn't gained his reputation by rejecting his assignments on a whim.

A gloved hand touched Kakashi's forehead. "You don't seem to have a fever."

Kakashi clutched a fisted hand by his chest, willing the desperate clawing pain inside to go away. He shook himself off his father's touch. "Do you have to go tomorrow? I feel sick. What if it gets worse tomorrow?" the boy tried hopelessly.

Sakumo frowned, but shook his head. "No, I was recommended for the mission, and I already gave my word to the Hokage and the client. I can't take it back now. I already accepted the mission."

_Kakashi hadn't changed a thing. _"But-"

The White Fang held up a hand. "Sorry, Kakashi." Sakumo kneeled by his son, pulling a smile on his face. "I'll tell you what, I'll alert the hospital nurses to come check up on you tomorrow, okay?"

The boy didn't answer, his teeth clenched tightly together as his pale hands shook by his sides.

"Kakashi?"

The boy swallowed hard, trying to get past the lump in his throat. "If you had a choice in doing what was required of you, and what was right, which would you choose?" he asked, slowly at first, but the words came more and more urgently as he continued on.

The silver-haired man looked up sharply, bewildered at the abrupt topic change. "What's with this-"

Kakashi's eyes flickered wildly, unable to focus. "And you knew that by not doing what was taught and expected, people would scorn you for the rest of your life?"

There was a long pause.

"Kakashi, why are you asking this?"

The little five-year-old boy stared him in the eye. "Humour me," he said in a voice too old for his age. It unnerved Sakumo to no end.

"I'd – I would do the right thing," the older Hatake finally said, through all the confusion.

"Even if _everyone_ hated you afterwards?"

"… even you?"

"No," Kakashi murmured into his arms, shaking his head, eyes dark and _remembering_. "Not me; never again."

"Then I would still do it again," Sakumo replied softly, with determination and strong conviction in his tone. He refused to let his confusion show. He looked up, forcing himself to stare at his son.

There was too much emotion in his son's eyes for Sakumo to describe. Before he could get a good look into them, Kakashi closed his eyes with a deep sigh breathed through his lips, exhaled in what seemed like a tightly controlled manner. When the grey-blue eyes opened again, it was all gone. "Good luck on your mission tomorrow, Dad," he merely said.

Sakumo nodded. "It'll all be fine," he replied, trying to assure Kakashi.

His son simply gave him an almost inaudible whispered reply. "_I hope so_." And involuntary tingles traveled down Sakumo's spine at his voice.


	20. Paranoia

_A/N: I forgot to mention last chapter than I would be busy all week, and wouldn't have chance to update until, well, today. Oops. Did you miss me?  
I haven't had to time to read some of your lovely reviews yet, let alone reply to anyone. I'll try to get that all done before the next update (hopefully) :)_

_Anyways, in some of the past reviews a few of you asked wonderful questions which I never answered because, actually, most of them were answered in this chapter and I really didn't want to give it away. Sorry about that, but I wasn't ignoring them for no reason!_

_Chapter 20: Paranoia_

* * *

He wanted to go. Kakashi really, _really_ wanted to, but he knew that would only make Sakumo more paranoid.

The man couldn't stand his double.

Kakashi couldn't forget that first time Sakumo saw him. He wasn't a threat; Kakashi would never be a threat to his dad, but Sakumo didn't know that, couldn't see that. The man saw how powerful Kakashi was and Kakashi knew, like last time, Sakumo would focus all his energy to defeating that "unknown" ninja the moment he detected him, and practically forget everything else.

Last time Sakumo got lucky and was merely nicked by a sword. No, that was a lie; that wasn't luck. Sakumo was _never_ supposed to get hurt in that mission _at all_. Kakashi's presence there changed things. The White Fang got hurt because of him, and what if _this time_ something worse occured? What if he caused his father to die?

He'd thought he was doing so well too, trailing after his father and his team, but it turned out Sakumo had detected Kakashi the whole time. He'd distracted Sakumo. He'd scared Sakumo. He'd gotten the man hurt.

What would happen _this_ time?

No, Kakashi couldn't do it. Kakashi _oh so_ wanted to, but he couldn't, because every time he'd barely managed to convince himself it _just might _be better if he followed Sakumo, the memory of glistening ruby-red blood oozing down his father's arms convinced him how terrible things could and would turn out again.

A stab through the arm was lucky already. Where would it be next, if Kakashi continued to ignore all warnings and followed after his paranoid father? A stab through the chest when the White Fang was distracted?

Plus he'd promised; he'd _promised_ his father his double wouldn't be back. Kakashi was sick and tired of lying to his father all the time. It was true that it was necessary to lie in order for the time-traveler to live efficiently in his childhood life, but that didn't mean his heart didn't clench guiltily every word he said. For once he could keep his word … but at what cost?

_Kakashi hated how utterly useless his henged self was._

It was not supposed to be this way; Kakashi had planned it all out months and months ago, encouraged by Pakkun's words, and agreeing how he should know better than to just sit idly by the sidelines. Kakashi had the plot completely drafted out in his mind. His self-appointed mission was to save his family and friends from their fate – and that, of course, included his fellow shinobi as well. What better way to help than to discreetly accompany them on their missions and inconspicuously help remove threats if it got too much for them to handle? Kakashi figured as long as he stayed hidden as to not interfere with the dispatched team, the timeline would stay relatively the same (or at least until he saved someone who had died in the original timeline. But even afterwards, a single life saved couldn't possibly ripple the future too drastically). A team travelling without Kakashi, as was the future, seemed no different from a team travelling with a hidden Kakashi.

And so to start the plan, Kakashi had decided to go on a mission he already knew the outcome of – his father's mission. In a matter of a day, the plan completely fell apart.

Kakashi supposed he should've known better than to trail the Legendary White Fang, but what was done was done. Sakumo would've likely told the Hokage about Kakashi's double the moment the man returned from his mission, and most likely all shinobi of Konoha knew about him by now.

Perhaps one day in the future, Kakashi could continue with this plan, after the paranoia of dispatched teams were not as high and alert (and of course this time Kakashi would refrain from following after teams with Legendarily strong shinobi in them). But for now, his _henged_ self (even if he _henged _ into some other form) was completely useless because Kakashi was certain everyone had already been warned to watch out for unknown stalking ninjas.

The only good thing this whole mishap led to was the distraction it gave Sakumo, who, between missions, being a decent father, and searching for the unknown ninja plus trying to figure out said ninja's purpose or relations, was too busy to pursue Kakashi's secrets. Sakumo didn't have time to wonder how Kakashi managed to summon eight ninja dogs, or why he had such odd mood swings, let alone trying to get Kakashi to talk about it.

So, perhaps, thinking about things that way, maybe his _henged_ self really wasn't completely useless after being detected, but it still meant that Kakashi couldn't accompany his father on this dreadful mission of his.

Kakashi couldn't do anything else but sit at home and try and cling on to the little hope that perhaps he _did_ change the timeline, if not just a little. Perhaps the mess that had occurred in the White Fang's mission in the past wouldn't occur in this one?

_._.. but what were the chances of that?

But … even if all were to stay the same, Sakumo wouldn't commit suicide this time again - not if Kakashi believed in him ... _right_? Kakashi knew the first time around he'd been so conflicted, not knowing whether he should have trusted his father or the Shinobi Rules. He had leaned towards the Rules more because he'd thought that was the right thing to do, and heck, the whole village had thought that way too.

But no, not anymore. Sakumo told Kakashi himself that he would do the right thing no matter what anyone said, and this time, Kakashi was definitely going to support his dad with all he had, no matter the outcome of Sakumo's mission. This time, Kakashi knew he would happily approve all day long and then some as long as Sakumo stayed with him. And this time, it would all turn out fine.

_... but why wouldn't that fearful aching in his chest go away?_


	21. Embrace

_A/n: I always thought Sakumo failed some great, all-important mission, seeing as how everyone made such a big deal about it. I mean, surely shinobi fail missions all the time, right? Or maybe it was just because when it was talked about in the manga it was in Kakashi's pov (I think), so it seemed like more of a big deal. ...or maybe I'm reading too much fanfiction.  
Please give your loving thanks to fermontie for making previous chapters free of errors :)_

_Chapter 21: Embrace_

* * *

**Two weeks later:**

The moment Sakumo entered the living room with his eyes downcast and clouded over with morosity, Kakashi knew it happened again.

Kakashi kept behind the bend of the corridor, observing, knowing the moment he appeared from around the corner, the man would've quickly hidden his expression from him. The White Fang looked defeated - probably got an earful from everyone the moment his team reported their mission as a failure.

"I suppose you heard about it too?" Sakumo spoke up abruptly, misery in his tone.

Kakashi was suddenly aware his dad was talking to him. The masked boy cursed lightly - he'd thought he'd hidden himself well enough - before slipping out from his spot. "Heard about what?" he asked innocently.

Grey eyes glanced over at him before they softened up. "Never mind," the man said, "I thought you-" Sakumo cut himself off, letting a smile wash off the depressed features on his face. He opened his arms wide. "Come give your old man a hug," He ordered playfully, pretending nothing had happened.

"Sure," Kakashi shrugged. He leaned into his dad's arms without another word. The sliver-haired boy closed his eyes in the embrace trying to enjoy it, but that only made it even easier for him to detect the small tremors that quavered through the man.

Kakashi kept his mouth shut behind his mask, determined not to ask any question nor comment about it.

"Let's go out to eat," Sakumo said suddenly, eagerly, still in the tight embrace.

Kakashi dropped his gaze, knowing what this was about. Kakashi fully knew Sakumo wanted to spend more time with him before the boy started to turn his back on the White Fang like his teammates, and soon, the rest of the village.

_Don't you trust me_? Kakashi wanted to yell at the man. But he couldn't. Because Sakumo was an intelligent shinobi who'd guessed the future (one of the futures) precisely. Kakashi _had_ abandoned his father once, so who was he to feel indignant at Sakumo's correct prediction? And even if that were not the case, there was still the problem that at this very moment Kakashi wasn't even supposed to know what had happened on Sakumo's mission yet.

So, instead, Kakashi smiled a loving smile, hoping that would calm his dad's nerves. "Sounds like a plan to me," he cheered enthusiastically, hoping to bring a genuine smile back on Sakumo's face.

His excited charm did its magic as stress lines relaxed on the White Fang's pinched, strained expression. "I love you, Kakashi," the man whispered softly, more to himself than his son, if anything.

Kakashi knew better than to just ignore it. "I love you too, dad," he responded.

Sakumo looked ready to cry.

**x**

While spending time with his father was absolutely a great idea, going_ out_ to eat definitely was not. By the time dinner rolled around, the gossip/rumour mills of Konoha had already done their worst.

Kakashi - and no doubt Sakumo - could feel the disappointed gazes of the villagers the moment they set foot on the main road. Kakashi tried to keep his stare oblivious as he coolly pulled his dad along, acting as though they were late for their reservation. - Anything to get his father away from all the onlookers. There was nothing worse than to feel hostility from all those who Sakumo had dedicated his whole life protecting.

"Hurry up!" Kakashi urged in a whine, desperately trying to get all of Sakumo's attention on himself than anything around.

The boy earned a chuckle, and a hand ruffled through his silver hair for his efforts. "Eager, aren't you?" Sakumo teased.

Kakashi shrugged. "If you cooked better, I would be eager to eat your food too," he quipped back. Their childish bickering seemed to elevate Sakumo's mood. They continued this way until the Hatake duo eventually reached the restaurant.

"A reservation under Hatake for two," Sakumo announced to the hostess as soon as he entered.

A curious glint flickered in the woman's eyes even as she checked her book with a nod. "Yes, this way," the woman led. Having been sat beside fellow shinobi was probably the worst thing that happened that night. Especially beside ones who took their careers very seriously.

It was inevitable, honestly, that an argument would break out before their meal was over.

It started with the pair of shinobi at the table over glaring at them as the Hatake men tried to eat their meal in peace. Kakashi expertly ignored them, pretending to be ignorant to the whole thing. It honestly wasn't even all that different from a typical day of eating out, pretending to be unobservant of the people trying unsuccessfully to look under his mask. Sakumo had pretended the waitress put his meal too close to the right side of the table and moved his chair directly between the gazes of the shinobi and Kakashi.

For the next little while, nothing happened as both parties ate calmly. And then, Kakashi didn't doubt, the shinobi became enraged they were being ignored. When the sandaled foot launched forwards, kicking at the chair Sakumo was sitting on, neither Sakumo nor Kakashi could overlook them any longer as the older Hatake nearly fell backwards.

"Excuse me," Sakumo said, trying for polite, "I am trying to eat my meal with my son."

That was obviously not the right choice of words.

Chairs clattered on the floor as the men behind Sakumo stood up. Their faces were drunk flushed, and already Kakashi could tell it wasn't a good sign. "Oh, _excuse us, oh-Legendary White Fang_. You were recommended to the client by the Fire Diamyo, and you think you can just fail your mission – disgrace our whole village – and then expect to come home and eat with your son like you've done nothing wrong?"

Sakumo's eyes flickered between the men and Kakashi before steeling, skin tightening around his eyes. "I am willing to discuss this at a later time. But for now, my son is present, and we are trying to eat in peace."

"You're nothing but a coward," one of the men hissed at the silver-haired Hatake.

The other one drew around to Kakashi with a plastered, toothy smirk on his face. "Do you know what your disgraceful old man did?"

Kakashi had tried to remain oblivious to the whole commotion, eating even while the argument went on. He figured his dad wouldn't want him involved anyways. But when the shinobi turned to him, he was a player in the game now, no matter how hard he tried to ignore them. The White Fang seemed to wilt, lose spirit, the moment the men got Kakashi involved in the whole affair. The men themselves looked vicious with their grins, knowing full well the distraught they were giving Sakumo in their plan of ruining his relationship with his son.

So, Kakashi gave an unamused "yes, in fact, I do" and suppressed his desire to hug his dad when the White Fang let in a strong, sharp intake of air. "_Now, _can we get back to eating in peace?" he wondered dryly.

Shock left the shinobi's faces slower than it had come, but left all the same to be replaced by scorn. "And you're _fine_ with it? The scum abandoned the mission, lost a prosperous client's trust, and disobeyed direct orders. He is a disgrace to all shinobi, breaking every rule we live by."

Fury lit in Kakashi's chest even as he desperately tried to keep it down and not do something he would regret. He took a deep breath as he closed his eyes. "Dad," he ordered, voice unusually stiff, "Can we call a waiter? I feel like eating at home now."

Sakumo nodded wordlessly, lifting a hand to flag down a waiter. The man's grey eyes, however, never left his fellow shinobi. He _knew _they would never hurt a civilian, a child no less, but aggravated, drunk shinobi were irrational shinobi.

The older Hatake was glad when their food was finally packed and paid, and they were free to walk away.

Kakashi gave him a soft smile before turning around one last time, catching the two shinobi's attention. "Look, if you want to die, that's alright with me, but the Rules are not set in stone." The boy let his eyes unfocus, remembering words his sensei had told him once; something that had taken Kakashi far too long to realise. "Sometimes you have to adapt to them."

**x**

Bags of take away in their hands, Sakumo was quiet as the two made their way back to the Compound. The older was cringing - discreetly, but cringing all the same - every time Kakashi looked over at him. "You worry too much," Kakashi finally said.

Sakumo shot his son an utterly forced smile before staring past the boy. "Who did you hear it from?" he asked. Kakashi knew he was talking about the details of the damned mission.

The boy gave a shrug, a quick bounce of his shoulders. "I'm observant," the silver-haired boy murmured, "and no one has been discreet about it."

Sakumo seemed to shrink a little at those words. "Since when?" the man shot out suddenly.

Since when had Kakashi known? _Since forever, and then some; _as if real life was not enough, the events even haunted Kakashi's dreams, especially as of late. "Are you trying to figure out if my behaviour towards you changed once I heard about it?" Kakashi deflected.

There was a pause. "Of course not." That was a lie.

Kakashi stared at his father's hunched form, his stomach rolling and tumbling in remembrance of what had once occurred. In a snap, Kakashi shot out his pale hand, clutching Sakumo around the waist for all it was worth. Lines Kakashi would call cheesy, but honestly he didn't care at the moment because they summed up everything he wanted to say so clearly, flooded out of the boy's mouth in a strong and faithfully sincere rush, "I don't care what you did. As long as you think it's right, I accept that. I don't care what anyone else thinks. As long as you're okay, I'm happy, so please, please stop thinking about it."

There was not a word more spoken between them, and the world was silent except for the gentle wind sweeping around them like a silk blanket, and the shaking of Sakumo's body as the older man stifled back building sobs. But that wasn't important to Kakashi and nor did he notice them, because all he cared about was the snaking of his father's hand around his back and the tightening hold around him, as Sakumo firmly hugged him back.


	22. Human

_Chapter 22: Human_

* * *

"Thanks for coming," Sakumo said as Jiraiya strolled through the Hatake Compound doors.

"No problem," he replied, "How are you?" The blazing sun overhead was just starting its journey downwards, but it still gave a sufficient amount of light to outline each strained crease pulled across the silver-haired man's face. The Sage could easily read his friend's last few months in each line.

Hands clenched into tight fists, Sakumo gave out a bitter laugh. "Could be better." He grimaced, "Could be a _whole_ lot better. It's one of those things you wish would blow off in a few days, but ends up being months and months later before you know it, and still, things haven't changed."

"Ah, sorry for coming so late," Jiraiya apologised sincerely. He didn't want his friend to think that he'd abandoned him as well. It was a few months now since he'd heard what happened to his friend. His sensei had sent an urgent message to him requesting his return for his friend's sake, but he had duties to attend to first, lest his whole network fall apart, and couldn't make it back to Konoha until now no matter how much he rushed.

"No, I'm just glad you're here," Sakumo said with a soft, thanking smile.

The Sage returned the smile. "How are you?" Jiraiya asked once more, before the silence that was slowly creeping between the two of them could go on for any longer. It was an awkward question, considering the man obviously wasn't doing so well, but then again, Jiraiya didn't like how Sakumo deflected the question the first time around.

"Fine," Sakumo said, lying through his teeth. The Sage stared unamused at his friend who sighed suddenly. "Alright, I'm frustrated at the village," the man admitted.

Jiraiya made a sound from the back of his throat, urging the man to continue.

Sakumo lowered his face into his hands, closing his haunted eyes. "I had to choose between the mission or my teammates. It was a split-second decision, but thoughts just cascaded through my mind the moment I saw their faces staring at me. I forgot completely about the mission, because the moment I saw them - saw that they were going to die - I just kept thinking that they might've had kids, like me. As shinobi, we've signed up to die the moment we set foot in the Academy, but as parents we want the best future we can give our kids. I don't know how I would manage it, coming back to tell their kids their dads died on the mission when I could've easily saved them." The silver-haired man choked back a sob. "I know I wouldn't want that to happen to Kakashi - I want him to live a happy life with no regrets."

Jiraiya nodded solemnly, "The thing about being a Shinobi and being Human is that sometimes you can't be both. It just doesn't work." The older man shrugged helplessly, "No matter how much you wish it did."

Sakumo laughed suddenly, if only just to make a sound, rather than meaning it. "Sometimes I think I'm rather happy Kakashi decided not be a ninja in the end."

"Yeah?"

"He won't need to make decisions like these ones, where it's a loss no matter which choice I make." Sakumo explained, barely hearing Jiraiya's comment.

The Sage studied his friend carefully. "You look more sad than relieved right now."

"Am I?" the Jounin asked. Sakumo gave a bitter chuckle as he stared off to the distance. "Yeah, sometimes I wish Kakashi didn't though, so he could defend himself from these scorning villagers should they ever try anything." The man glanced down at this gloved hands, looking lost. "Why is Kakashi being hurt for something I did? Why do they have to involve him too? It was my mistake, so yell at me, hate me, despise _me_. Don't start hating my son too."

Deep silence filled the room as the two men sat by each other, no words helpful for such a situation.

Jiraiya suddenly sighed, running a hand through his long white hair. "I don't know," he admitted weakly. He shifted his gaze to the door at approximately where Kakashi's room was located. "How is Kakashi?" the Sage asked instead.

It was Sakumo's turn to shrug as he said, "I don't know." Sakumo shook his head. "It looks like he's dealing with it fine, but sometimes you can't tell with Kakashi."

"He doesn't … hate you for what you did, does he?" Jiraiya asked carefully. "Even from peer pressure?"

Sakumo barked out a laugh before he could help it. "No. In fact, he told me clearly, 'I don't care what anyone else thinks. As long as you're okay, I'm happy'," the silver-haired father recited. His face drifted off to a happier expression, happier than he'd ever been the whole day.

"Good kid," Jiraiya said warmly.

"Yeah," Sakumo agreed. There was another silent pause before Sakumo looked up at Jiraiya. "To be honest, I feel like Kakashi knew what was going to happen and tried to warn me," he confessed with a nervous laugh, feeling a bit ridiculous for admitting it.

The Toad Sage looked surprised. "What do you mean? How?"

Shrugging his shoulder, the Jounin leaned back on his chair, shooting a glance into their Hatake state garden, trying to recall what happened there. "Before I had my mission, Kakashi asked me a confusing question," Sakumo said slowly, trying to come up with the proper words, "'If you had a choice in doing what was required of you, and what was right, which would you choose?'" he quoted softly. "Even if I was hated by everyone afterwards."

There was silence as the men digested the words, before Jiraiya looked up, eyebrows pressed into a frown. "What did he mean by that?"

Sakumo shook his head. "I don't know." He glanced over at Jiraiya, head still shaking in confusion. "Kakashi asked me that just before I left. And his eyes … I swear I saw fear in them before … before his face suddenly blanked. And if anything, I think his question describes my situation now perfectly – like he knew it would happen beforehand."

"It can't be true," Jiraiya protested at the illogicality of the idea.

Sakumo chuckled lowly. "Yeah, I know. I'm thinking too much about the smallest things nowadays," he said, disappointed at himself. "I know it can't be true, but it's nice to think about," Sakumo admitted, "to know that my actions weren't done on pure impulse. Even if I had time to sit down and think about the answer, my conclusion would still be the same – do the right thing."

Jiraiya gave a dip of his head before tilting it off to the side. "Well, you know some people would argue that finishing the mission is the 'right' thing," The Sage argued just for the sake of arguing. Onyx eyes observed the White Fang's response.

Sakumo merely nodded knowingly. "So I've been hearing," he said. The man offered a small smile, "but I think saving a comrade, a fellow man's life, is a lot more important than a single mission. Mission can always be redone. The dead cannot be revived."

Jiraiya nodded solemnly. "You did what any sane human would do. I would've done the same."

The smile on Sakumo's lips stretched a bit more naturally at his friend's words. "Hey, thanks for letting me rant out at you like this," he said softly.

Jiraiya shrugged, "No problem, Sakumo. I'm surprised you called me though – or rather, asked sensei to call me. Don't you usually like to get through things like this on your own?"

The silver-haired man tipped his head forwards, almost like he was embarrassed. "I was going to; I didn't want to bother you with my problems," the Jounin admitted in a quiet murmur, "But then Kakashi stepped in and told me I was being stupid. He practically ordered me to ask the Hokage to call you back to Konoha. Told me I couldn't deal with everything myself, and if I didn't call you, he would," Sakumo recalled fondly, lovingly.

"Smart kid," The Sage commented. "I'm always here to listen to you."

Jiraiya was glad for rushing back as he did, as he watched his friend's face relax into an expression the Sage thought was much more suited for Sakumo than the stressed form it had been pinched in the whole day. "Thank you, Jiraiya. That means a lot," Sakumo replied. "I wish I could do more for Kakashi, though."

There was a slight tilt to the Sage's head, white hair spilling over his shoulders. "Kakashi's fine, right?" the older man confirmed.

Sakumo nodded hesitantly. "Yes, but being by me, getting scorned for something he didn't do, isn't healthy for a boy like him." A weak smile bloomed on the man's face, "And he just won't leave me alone. It's like he thinks something is going to happen to me the moment he leaves." He let out a chuckle. "Aren't _I_ supposed to be the protective father?"

Jiraiya grinned faintly with his friend. "That's Kakashi for you," he said jokingly. But he _did_ see what Sakumo was talking about; a young boy should not have disgusted insults and glares thrown at him, especially when he'd done nothing wrong. "I'll see how long I can stay. If I stretch it, I can probably stay here for a month at the very most." Jiraiya said. Sakumo wasn't the only one who cared for the kid, after all.

Sakumo was never more thankful for his friend.


	23. Uncle

_A/N: Oh, wow, one of you reviewers in the passing, mentioned ideas that were so creepily close to what I wrote for the next few chapters coming up… are you secretly me? To that reviewer, I'm sorry I didn't reply to your review, but I didn't know what to reply it with other than "omg, how are you reading my mind?!" Yeah. …and, well, you probably don't even know who you are, but I'm sure you'll realise as the next few chapters are posted up…_

_Kakashi knows better than to spend so much time with someone who's already suspicious of him. Shame Jiraiya doesn't get the hint. :I_

_Chapter 23: Uncle_

* * *

"So why are you here?" Kakashi muttered, clearly unamused, as he was pulled along by a white-haired man. Kakashi had glared at him the whole time, the moment Jiraiya pounced into his room unannounced, pulled the boy out of bed, and proceeded to pull him out of the house. The man never lost his smug grin the whole way.

The Toad Sage raised an eyebrow. "I was under the impression _you_ were the one who convinced your old man to call me up."

Jiraiya smirked as Kakashi's eyes flickered with what he could only call annoyance, as the boy crossed his arms with a huff. "True, but that doesn't mean you can intrude with my family time."

Jiraiya mocked an anguished cry. "Don't I count as family?" he whined, playfully barking out a laugh, trying to bring a smile on the six-year-old's face. Kakashi was quite unmoved by the whole thing. "Oh come on, lighten up a little, won't you?"

"I was going to spend the day with my father, not you."

"Don't you love your favourite Uncle anymore?" Jiraiya joked. Kakashi seemed to be in the mood of ignoring him, and that was rather odd. Sure the boy had previously shown mild aversion to him before, especially when he was younger and Jiraiya refused to teach him advanced shinobi arts that Sakumo had disapproved of, but nowadays Kakashi was more frequent to politely tuning him out; not blatantly showing open hostility like this. And Jiraiya didn't miss how every sentence Kakashi spoke to him had to do with his father. Was Sakumo's vilification really affecting Kakashi as bad as the father had been fearing it was?

The Toad Sage let the humour drain from his face, allowing it to drop back to seriousness. "If you want me to leave so badly, why did you call me in the first place?" he asked, slowly digging for the answer he was looking for.

The boy's eyes flickered over to the older man for a second. "I didn't."

The Jiraiya rolled his eyes. "No, but I heard about your part in convincing Sensei to call me back," he countered.

Kakashi stared back at Jiraiya before at last giving a small shrug of his shoulders. "Fine, maybe I did," Kakashi agreed, with an idle wave of his hand, "but I don't need you here. I called you for dad." The silver-haired boy gave him a pointed look as if saying that Sakumo wasn't with them, so why was he still here?

Jiraiya ignored the look. "Just for your old man?" he asked, giving his voice a curious tilt. He lowered his tone to a gentler lull. "Surely you need someone as well."

Jiraiya watched as the kid's steps slowed down from the pace he was walking in, lips seemingly pressed tight behind his navy-blue mask. "Dad needs someone to talk to about this whole thing," Kakashi finally said, softly, eyes suddenly drawn into a distant look. "He can't keep everything inside. _He can't_." There was a pause before the boy shook his head, shedding the emotion quicker than Jiraiya could figure out how to comfort the suddenly solemn boy. "_He_ needs you, not me. I'm fine. I have dad. As long as I have dad, I'm fine."

The Toad Sage held his gaze on the short six-year-old, wondering if they boy knew his grey-blue eyes were still echoing the haunted pain that he'd not been able to fully dismiss. That was not the look of someone "fine". Kakashi needed him just as much as his father.

"Did my dad ask you to do this?" Kakashi suddenly asked, eye lightening up like he just realised that possibility. His grey-blue eyes flickered over and bore on Jiraiya's dark ones, daring the man to lie to him.

"Nah, I just thought it would be fun to steal you from under your dad's nose and teach you about the heavenly goodness your dad hesitates to tell you about." He paused, cupping his hands in front of his chest. "The _boing boing," _Jiraiya leered, winking suggestively. Even as he said that as lecherously as he could, Kakashi gave him a deadpanned look.

"Oh fine, your dad asked me to take you out," The Toad Sage conceded with a sulking sigh. "He was afraid of you being put in so much pressure being by his side." The older man watched as a veil of emotions clouded under tight grey-blue eyes before they were shook off with a scowl.

"He doesn't need to."

Jiraiya shook his head, flopping a hand on the boy's unruly silver-hair. "Kid, act your cute age once in a while, won't you? Let your dad pamper you in his over-protective love." The fact that Jiraiya himself completely agreed with Sakumo's decision wasn't to be said. No, the Toad Sage knew the knowledge of Sakumo's love towards Kakashi meant more to the boy than anything else.

Kakashi's scowl turned more into a sulk as the six-year-old hunched his shoulder, looking almost sheepish. "He worries too much," the boy muttered under his breath.

"And that's the way parents are," Jiraiya chuckled. With a hand, he gestured down the road. "Shall we?" he asked.

"I still prefer to go with dad than with you," Kakashi muttered yet again, this time his expression definitely more of a pout than anything else.

"Too bad!" the older man crooned, pulling the boy to the hem of his red vest, laying his arm around Kakashi's shoulder. "You're stuck with me _all day."_

"Joy."

Jiraiya let out another bark of a laugh at Kakashi's utterly unenthusiastic tone. He grabbed the boy into a playful headlock, refusing to let the boy go even as Kakashi tried to pull away. Under his spirited taunting, Jiraiya never let his guard down, half an eye kept on the shinobi and villagers they passed. He openly let his gaze linger warningly on them every time he managed to distract Kakashi, lest the boy start complaining how overly-protective _he_ was as well.

In the beginning, Kakashi struggled viciously, disliking being held on to and manhandled like the six-year-old he was supposed to be. But gradually the boy let Jiraiya lead him around Konoha, a large, warm hand on Kakashi's shoulder the whole way.

The Toad Sage inwardly chuckled at the Hatake's obedience, but another half of him – the half that knew and had witnessed the young prodigy's skills – knew Kakashi likely realised what was going on. Because he honestly doubted Kakashi had missed him glaring at the passersbys the whole way. Nor would Kakashi not realise why his whole protective-Uncle-behaviour knob was switched to extra high.

He was practically challenging everyone around to dare harm his beloved "nephew" in a way even the civilian villagers would understand, complete lack of subterfuge and all. _Of course_ Kakashi would see it.

Jiraiya was just surprised Kakashi didn't call him out on it - but perhaps Kakashi _did_ feel comforted and protected by his presence like he had hoped, but was too embarrassed and shy to verbally acknowledge it. ...an Uncle had the creative licence to imagine his nephew to be profusely cuter than he really was, didn't he?


	24. Regret

_A/N; Weelll, I can already name a few of you who are likely already cursing my name. Yup.  
__Thanks to fermontie for pointing out the mistakes of previous chapters!__  
_

_Chapter 24: Regret_

* * *

True to the Sage's words to Sakumo, the man had actually managed to clear his schedule for practically a month in Konoha.

Jiraiya's constant presence around Kakashi, despite how much Kakashi would've preferred if Jiraiya stayed by his father's side instead, was comforting in the unfriendly village. If Kakashi was to be honest to himself, life in Konoha was unusually hostile.

These days as he walked through the village, Kakashi had to consciously suppress his instinct to react to all the stares he received. It wasn't like Kakashi had never been stared disgustedly at before, and he'd plenty of practicing ignoring people doing such things - he did, after all, voluntarily walk through Konoha every day with vibrant erotic novels stuck to his face (well, in the future, at least) - but Kakashi honestly couldn't recall it being this bad the first time around. Not that it was particularly horrible, but compared to the past he remembered, the treatment he was receiving was definitely worse than before.

But no matter how much more antagonistic the villagers were, Jiraiya, who Kakashi swore was gradually getting as overly protective as Sakumo was, kept the harassing and heckling to a minimum with well placed glares. Kakashi hadn't said anything to the Sage, but he was thankful for what Jiraiya was doing - even though the fact that the greater need to keep the villagers to tone down was his own fault.

It was simple once he thought about it, why this time around people seemed to pull Kakashi into Sakumo's mistake more than they had in the other past.

Last time around, he was the (known) prodigal Kakashi, destined to become one of the strongest shinobi of Konoha. People feared him, skidded around him, and tried not to be on bad terms with him. Everyone knew his strength, and could already predict his prowess in the future. Plus he hadn't openly supported his father either.

This time around, Kakashi had forgo his chance to be a shinobi at the age of six, and no one knew he had the potential to be dangerous. He was now only civilian Kakashi, son of the disgrace of Konoha. Weak, juvenile youngster who was probably never destined to be any better than his father. Basically, he was a nobody (And oh how wrong they were).

But Kakashi knew better than to let it get to him; he really couldn't have cared less how the village treated him. It was only those _special_ precious people whose opinion he cared about. But Jiraiya's gesture was touching, and helped reinforce the knowledge of what a great man the Legendary Sanin was. Plus, likely, it gave Sakumo a great deal of peace of mind.

**x**

That evening, Kakashi walked down the street with his father, groceries in hand. They were out buying ingredients for dinner. A dinner they were going to have with Jiraiya before the man left for his duties outside of Konoha the next day – like that, a month had quickly passed without Kakashi noticing.

What Kakashi _did_ notice, was that Sakumo was getting better. It would be a lie if Kakashi said Sakumo didn't look stressed, because the older Hatake _was_, but this current man was nothing like the depressed, hunched figure who'd practically given up on life that Kakashi remembered from his past memories. Physically, Sakumo looked like he'd aged a few more years, and he had a pale, tired air around him which he never had before the whole failed mission business began. But as for Sakumo's mental state, Kakashi couldn't be sure. Sakumo was as protective as always, and he'd given no inclination he was suicidal to any degree, but Sakumo was a ninja - who knew what thoughts he was keeping locked up inside that he was reluctant to share with either Jiraiya or his own son?

"You alright, Kakashi?" Sakumo asked as he gently gave the boy a guiding push from behind.

Kakashi pretended he didn't see Sakumo blocking him from the view of a particularly fierce looking man glaring at their direction. "I told you, it doesn't bother me," Kakashi told his dad sincerely, "And honestly, you think I'm not used to it by now?"

Sakumo frowned at those words. "It's not something I want you to get used to."

Kakashi shrugged. "Doesn't matter to me, so stop looking so worried," he lectured his dad.

The older Hatake pulled up a smile at his son's words, giving the boy a chuckle. "Yes'sir," he grinned out in a mock salute.

Kakashi rolled his eyes, but a small smile worked its way onto his lips at his father's playful actions. "Come on, soldier, to the Compound," the masked boy ordered. He heard his father snort at him, but Sakumo winked and gave him another salute when Kakashi looked over.

"Yes'sir," Sakumo laughed again. He gave Kakashi a soft push from behind, getting the boy to pick up his pace. "Let's hurry. We still have a dinner to start making."

Kakashi nodded, tugging his dad's hands and pulling the man along as he quickened his pace significantly. "Let's go," Kakashi cried.

The moment the two of them reached the wall of the Hatake Compound, Sakumo slapped his hands on the wall, grinning at his son. "Record time," The older man declared happily looking down at Kakashi. The masked boy grinned back lovingly at him. The two of them stopped in front of the compound door, the entrance littered with garbage and graffiti. Had it only been a few months ago, when Sakumo didn't have to worry about people angrily defacing his property in response to that damned mission? Sakumo found his eyes wandering over to his son, wondering how he was feeling about this. Kakashi barely took note of it all, his adoring smile still directed towards Sakumo in an unwavering stretch.

Sakumo couldn't help but stare at Kakashi, feeling almost unable to understand how he had such a perfect son who didn't blame him for anything. He really was so perfect, and that knowledge helped nothing but cause Sakumo's chest to further tighten guiltily, seeing others scorning his precious son along with him.

Sakumo looked down on the ground. The older Hatake tried to ignore the litter as he had the previous months. But for some reason, he just couldn't today. The angry scrawls on the wall seemed to glow on their once pristine white walls. The garbage on the ground seemed to double every look he took, completely filling up the whole front way. Sakumo was a grown man, Jounin and all; he could handle this. But Kakashi on the other hand, why did his six-year-old have to suffer from this too?

Small hands tugged at his sleeves. "Come on, Dad. Let's go inside," Kakashi said, looking up at him. His eyes were wide with concern.

Sakumo tried to focus solely on his son, but all he could see was Kakashi, his innocent little baby, standing in front of a disgrace's house. Kakashi was a wonderful boy; he shouldn't have to wade through trash every day to get home. He shouldn't have to suffer through jeers of people disappointed at Sakumo. Kakashi shouldn't have to be the shadow of Sakumo – goddamnit, Kakashi was his own man!

Kakashi was the _perfect_ little boy any father could ask for. Even after everyone told him of his father's disgraceful deeds, the boy just smile and stayed by him. And yet because Kakashi was his son, no one around was able to look past the shameful being that was the father was and see the amazing boy Kakashi was.

It wasn't fair.

"Dad?" a voice murmured hesitantly through Sakumo's hazy mind. "Dad?"

Sakumo lifted his head towards the sound. "Kakashi, can you go find Jiraiya for me?" The older man asked gently, detached, as he stared sadly over his son's shoulders.

Even with his distanced gaze, Sakumo could feel Kakashi freezing momentarily at his tone. "Da-"

"Please?" Sakumo interrupted, his lips pressed into a weak smile, and voice taking up an almost begging curl.

"Maybe we should just call the dinner off," Kakashi retorted.

The boy's blue-grey eyes washed over Sakumo, trying hard to decipher his dad's actions, but Sakumo didn't give him a chance. The older man ruffled the boy's hair and pressed his lips gently on his son's forehead. "Oh, just go already." He gave Kakashi a gentle nudge past the Hatake Compound door, ignoring Kakashi's playful mock whine at the sign of affecting in public and how the boy's eyes never lost its concerned glimmer of uncertainty. Sakumo watched as Kakashi walked off, throwing worried glances backwards ever other step.

Sakumo clenched his gloved hands into tight fists by his sides.

Why couldn't everyone else look past Sakumo's actions and just see Kakashi as Kakashi, the wonderful, amazing boy; not Kakashi, the disgrace's son? Kakashi would be incredible in the future, and Sakumo knew it. But as long as Sakumo's actions were always there, shadowing the boy, no one would ever know; no one would ever find out.

Sakumo watched as Kakashi walked, his spiked silver hair shimmering as the sun reflected off it, and his posture straight and proud, despite how everyone treated him.

His heart glowed with love at his son's actions. Sakumo knew Kakashi was a special boy, and he knew he would regret it if no one else knew this too. Kakashi didn't deserve to be treated the way he was now. Not now, not _ever_.

Everything that was hurting his son was all his fault. Sakumo gritted his teeth angrily at himself, ashamed at all he'd cause. Kakashi refused to say anything about it, but Jiraiya had told him; Jiraiya had probably not meant to, only half-conscious of the things he was saying, with the headache that was Sakumo constantly hounding and nagging him insistently to report how he thought Kakashi was doing. It was likely unintentional, but that didn't make what he said any less true. Jiraiya had mentioned about the dark, anguished look that had filled his little boy's face, and the utter _regret_ that had drowned the boy's expression the few times the Sage tried to approach to boy about the topic of Sakumo.

Sakumo hated himself for doing this to Kakashi, and he hated how wholly selfless his son was, grinning and baring the whole situation without complaint while continuously pretending nothing was affecting him when it clearly was. Sakumo hated himself even more for not noticing the magnitude Kakashi had been distressed by from his fellow villagers.

But worse of all, he hated that last thing Jiraiya had let slip. _Regret_, Jiraiya had said. _Regret. _There were so many things that Kakashi could possibly feel regret about, but none of them were any better than the next, and everything was Sakumo's fault.

Sakumo stared one last longing gaze towards where his son had walked off to before turning around and reaching for the Compound doors. Sakumo would do anything for Kakashi, his sweet baby boy, as long as Kakashi stopped suffering. This, he knew without a doubt.

Sakumo's hand tightened as he twisted the handle of the door. His dark, grey eyes _glowed_ with a sudden renewed determination. He would do _anything_; that was a fact. _Anything._


	25. Helpless

___A/n: Sorry for the lack of response to the reviews; I couldn't really answer without saying yes or no, and I wanted you guys to find out what happens instead of me confirming it._

___Edit: I have been informed by a reviewer that I should put in a trigger warning for suicide, death and blood. Sorry for everyone who had read this chapter before this warning was put up._

_Chapter 25: Helpless_

* * *

Kakashi's chest was starting to hurt. Everything inside was squirming uncomfortably at that indescribable expression he'd seen split-second on his father's face before the man urged him away. Kakashi hadn't wanted to leave Sakumo, but the man had practically been pleading him to go, and how could he disobey his father when he was asking in a tone like that?

Kakashi hopped onto the rooftops, sending chakra towards his legs in a constant, steady stream as he kicked off the sides of the walls to speed up his search. In any other circumstances, Kakashi knew better than to show the world too much of his unaccountable skills, but all the silver-haired boy wanted at this moment was to get the task over with as soon as possible so he could get back to Sakumo to see how his father was doing.

Sakumo's behaviour scared Kakashi. But Kakashi wasn't certain if he was only overreacting due to the coincidence of Sakumo's expression then in association to Kakashi's worry on Sakumo's physical and mental health just earlier that morning. …surely nothing dire was going to happen, right? After all, he'd pass Sakumo's original death day by practically months now, thanks to pulling Jiraiya into the picture. Unlike last time, Sakumo didn't have to suffer alone – he had both Jiraiya and Kakashi himself on his side, and Kakashi was more than open with his acceptance of Sakumo this time around.

During the previous months, and even early that morning, Kakashi had felt himself cheering up, slowly letting himself believe that he'd changed Sakumo's future. Sakumo didn't look all that bad. Relatively speaking, he looked fine. But the moment the two of them reached the Hatake Compound, the White Fang suddenly seemed to lose himself in a world of his own. Kakashi could see there was something troubling Sakumo's mind, but Kakashi wasn't sure what it was. Kakashi couldn't even tell what was the catalyst of Sakumo's sudden decline in mood; they were away from the villagers at that time so it couldn't have been anything said to him, and the Compound looked just as it had been lately and Sakumo hadn't been upset about it before. All Kakashi could think of doing was calling out for his father, desperate to wrap his arms around the man and to pull him back in to reality before he could sink away any lower. But Sakumo only brushed off Kakashi's concern for nonsense and gave Kakashi a distracted smile in response.

It told the unfocused state of Sakumo's mind when the man sent Kakashi out to find Jiraiya on his own. Sakumo knew better than to ask a six-year-old, _his_ six-year-old particularly, to go fetch a man known to frequent brothels and spy on hot springs.

Kakashi didn't know what had taken up and ate away at Sakumo's mind, but doing what pleased Sakumo instead of refusing and stubbornly challenging the man's order, seemed like the more infallible course of action. Besides, if the matter that had been bothering Sakumo really was complicated enough for it to slip his mind that sending Kakashi to find Jiraiya was not such a good idea, surely the man had just wanted some quiet time on his own to sort out the problem … right?

And if it wasn't … Then, well, Kakashi didn't know what was going on, but he _did_ know Sakumo wanted Jiraiya, and that was what Kakashi was going to give him.

And so, here Kakashi was, running across rooftops with his eyes set on his task. Internally, he was pushing his fears away because he knew that dwelling on them would only draw him deeper and deeper into despair. And even as he was doing this, unconsciously, Kakashi drew a protective blanket around himself, composed continuously of words he was chanting in the back of his mind where he tried not to think too hard about it. Because at this time, the only thing that kept him from illogically disobeying his father's request was the idea that there _had_ to be a reason why Sakumo wanted Jiraiya, and if he did as his father asked, all would be fine, fine, fine.

The sooner he found Jiraiya, the sooner he could get back to his dad, and the sooner he could shed this unreasonable and unnecessary paranoia from flooding his chest. And all would be fine, fine, _fine._

**x**

The sun was glowing orange and dipping off the face of the earth by the time Kakashi finally dropped to the ground with a sigh on his lips. He'd ran across the village in speed and persistence that could rival on of Gai's self-imposed challenges, but to no avail. The white-haired Sage was nowhere to be found.

Kakashi was ready to give up. He'd been ready for quite a while now, but in a moment of insight, he'd decided to swing by the Village Gates, figuring one last try before calling it a day and reporting back to his father. The Chuunin assigned to gate duty barely gave him a glance as he approached.

Kakashi slipped in front of the man. "Has Jiraiya-sama left the village?" the boy asked, getting straight to the point.

The Chuunin glanced up, studying the silver-haired boy intently, before shuffling through his papers. "Hatake, right?" the man asked rhetorically as he fished out a sheet. "Jiraiya had asked for me to relay a message to you that he apologises for leaving so suddenly, but a matter turned up that he had to attend to immediately."

Kakashi frowned, "When was this?"

"This morning."

_This morning?_ What had he been running around all this time for? For an idle second Kakashi wondered if the Chuunin was asked to deliver the message directly to them but had _conveniently_ forgotten, or Jiraiya had expected the Hatakes to go and ask the Gate watchers themselves when the Sage didn't turn up for dinner.

He pushed the thought out of his mind not a second later. Whatever the case was, Kakashi didn't care anymore because now he was free to head home and tell his father in complete truthfulness on just how hard he had tried to fulfill his request.

Leaving the Chuunin with a half-hearted "Thanks," Kakashi quickly turned around back towards the village, making his way home. Jiraiya's ever-fleeting habits were annoying (even more so in the future when he'd nonchalantly left his godson on his own, leaving Naruto alone without knowing he had family who cared for him), and Kakashi made a mental note to discuss about the Toad Sage's horrible manners with his father. Because if anything, talking about Jiraiya's bad habits would cheer Sakumo up; the two older men were too great of friends to seriously get angry at each other, and their disapproval of each other always ended up in ridiculously immature bickering and ranting that always brought a grin on their lips.

Plus, they were fun to watch.

Dropping down in front of the Hatake Compound, Kakashi brushed aside the garbage littered around his front door mindlessly. "I'm home," Kakashi announced, removing his sandals as he entered his home.

No one answered him. Kakashi froze a little, feeling something cold and frightened desperately trying to claw its way up inside his chest. Kakashi shuffled softly into the dim kitchen, suddenly feeling too hyperaware of just how quiet the house was.

Panic flitted though him as his past suddenly rammed into his mind. Was his dad- _NO! _Kakashi clenched his gloved hands tight, trying to shake away his thoughts and shove back down the burst of feelings yearning to make itself known.

_No, no, NO!_

It was months past the date Sakumo had originally performed seppuku. He'd past it; it was safe_._ Kakashi felt like he was desperately trying to convince himself of flimsy, half-wilted lies, but Kakashi refused to believe anything else, because it was months over now. _It was over. _There was no way Sakumo would. _No way …_

_…_

And then the scent of blood hit him.

Logic rushed out of Kakashi's mind as the boy rushed to follow the wafting odour filling his house, the echoing of his footsteps unprofessionally slapping against the wooden floor as he ran. He ran through the Compound, slamming doors open until he reached that oh-so familiar traditional sliding door.

Kakashi had known where to go even before the smell prompted him towards these doors, but upon reaching it, he couldn't do anything; his fingers trembled, unable to pull the doors aside. For the longest time, Kakashi could only stand outside breathing in the coppery stench, hands frozen unsteadily in front of him. Kakashi didn't want to open that door and _see_ because that would mean he would have to acknowledge and accept the idea that his father truly _had once again _… _no!_ All Kakashi wanted was to delude himself a little bit longer that Sakumo _wasn't_ lying in a pool of blood in there, with a blade protruding out of his stomach; in his mind, he wanted to keep the delusion that Sakumo was still alive for as long as possible.

But even so, stalling for time was useless because Kakashi didn't need to open the door to see what there was to see. The pictures were already flashing through his mind like a film without sound, carved into his mind from the sight of another six-year-old's shaky and blurring blue-grey eyes.

Kakashi didn't want to go into this room. Kakashi hated this room; he'd avoided it all he could since his arrival back. But he couldn't avoid it now. Why did this have to happen again?

He tried to change things, he really did. So why did everything still remain the same? Why hadn't things changed at all? _Why was his father still dead?_

Kakashi's pale gloved hand, almost on its own accord, stretched reluctantly towards the door. His movements were slow and hesitant, and his mind was still on a continuous loop of nothing but denials, even as the stench of blood fully assaulted him and overtook all his other senses. Glassy eyes stared unseeing into the room, as ghost images of the past slide into place and merged with the present like a mocking, morbid game of memory.

_Nothing changed at all._

Kakashi crouched onto the tatami mat beside his father, numb to his fingertips. His body was moving on its own now; Kakashi wasn't even sure _when_ he'd gotten from the door to his father's side. Unconsciously the boy wiped the blood off his father's face where it had splattered upwards. The man looked almost… _peaceful_ lying there. Peaceful, cold, and _dead._

Kakashi didn't want to believe it, but assaulted by the truth lying gruesomely in front of him, there was no room for nonacceptance. Kakashi sunk onto his knees, feeling helpless; he'd done nothing to change the future despite knowing exactly what was going to happen. It hurt – his chest was really hurting, and his heart felt like it was being wrenched out. His eyes stung.

_Why?_ Why did this happen again? He'd tried so hard to change what he could, but his father's fate had been inevitable! What was he here for, then? Why was he here if he was so hopeless, so helpless?

What was the point when everything around him died - was going to die - and was there _nothing_ he could do about it?

Tears rolled down Kakashi's cheeks, sliding down the curve of his face, joining his father's blood on the tatami floor.

How useless was he to be given and yet _failed _a second chance? Could he never live up to the name of the White Fang? Was he _always_ going to fail to live up to their name? Could he ever honestly call himself a Hatake, when he was nothing in comparison with his father?

Kakashi breathing hitched as the boy hiccupped, tears streaming down his face, hands trembling as he reached out to his father again. He ignored the blood coating his hands, trying to hold on to his father for one last time.

_Was he_ _really so hopeless?_

It was more of a silent plead for something, someone to prove him wrong, more than anything else, but there was no one there who could answer the devastated six-year-old. There was no one in the Compound but him and his father, and his father was lying cold and lifeless in his arms, threatening to taint Kakashi's hands forever red. But Kakashi refused to let go of his father's body, without a care for the sticky, drying blood coating his limbs.

Kakashi wasn't sure how long he'd stayed in that position for, but that was how the Anbu found little Kakashi when they came looking for Sakumo later that day. He hadn't moved an inch.

* * *

_A/n: Sorry._

_Sakumo's mission and his suicide were two things that I always believed would've turned out the same way no matter what happened. I believe that if Sakumo had sacrificed his teammates and finished the mission, the family and friends of the deceased would've been aggressive against Sakumo, plus the guilt of it would also have worn the man down. Sakumo's suicide, I will always believe was for Kakashi's sake._

_And to Duesal10 and everyone else who wants more explanation to Sakumo's reasoning, you'll have it next chapter, I promise._


	26. Hindsight (Part Two)

_A/n: I know most of you (myself included) really want Sakumo's death over and done with already. So I thought I would ninja this in before friday to get the fic going slightly faster._

_And I thought I would include this tiny little excerpt from Wiki for those who didn't know: "The main point of [seppuku] was to restore or protect one's honor as a warrior […]"  
Admittedly, I didn't follow the facts completely, considering I believe there was also something about getting permission, or doing it in front of other or something along those lines, but I was only really concerned about the meaning associated with seppuku than anything else._

_PART TWO  
__Chapter 26: Hindsight_

* * *

Life was a cruel thing. Kakashi tried all he could, but sometimes it felt like his best wasn't enough. He was living a life full of failures after failures. He'd failed his father the first time around, and Obito, Rin, and Minato as well. He'd failed with properly teaching his children Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke, and everyone in between, causing them to turn to others for their training, criminal or not. And now in a second chance with his father, he'd failed once more.

It was a devastating turn of events, this, because Kakashi had truly filled his heart with the thought that he'd actually saved his father – only to have the optimistic idea crumbling down on him like flimsy plastered walls.

It had originally occurred to Kakashi that perhaps were he to stay civilian, not only would he get to spend more time with his father, but it would also encourage Sakumo not to commit suicide since he'd have a little, dependent son to care for. A little, dependent son who'd previously verbally expressed to him that he honestly cared for his dear father's wellbeing.

In hindsight, perhaps acting so precious wasn't such a good idea after all. It had the complete opposite result.

Thinking about it again, Kakashi considered that perhaps Sakumo might have been even more resolute on performing seppuku this time around. With little Kakashi as a civilian, Sakumo only had a greater determination to go through with it; the man couldn't bear the idea that his only son would be discriminate against – or hell – assaulted by others just because of what his old man had done. If his son wanted to stay a civilian, Sakumo would let him, and make sure the reason why anyone would want to hurt Kakashi didn't exist anymore. Genius or not, Kakashi didn't have the training to deal with actual ninjas if they stupidly tried anything while Sakumo was not present.

Showing the village that he understood the shame he had brought to the village by committing seppuku, Sakumo knew he could manage to restore some honor back to the Hatake name and all those associated with that name, Kakashi in particular.

Sakumo was willing to atone to the whole village for his actions, all for Kakashi's sake. Kakashi's caring, unselfish act only made Sakumo more certain he had to save the Hatake name. Not for himself, but his precious son who still had years and years more to live through in Konoha – and Sakumo desperately didn't want his son to send the rest of his life burdening Sakumo's failure.

Now that the dreadfully gruesome final result had laid there for him to see, looking back, Kakashi felt like there had been so many things that he'd mistaken or could've done differently. Kakashi wondered if the unplanned exposure of the unknown 'scarfed ninja' to Sakumo might have also played a role in the seppuku, even though that unknown ninja business seemed like ages ago by now. Kakashi _had _taken note of the event, but he'd only assumed that it would strengthen Sakumo's resolution to stay by him to protect him. But given the conclusion, perhaps Kakashi had been wrong? Sakumo was strong enough on his own, but he was not omnipresent; the strength and eyes of the whole village was far more efficient and superior than of just a single man. Perhaps Sakumo had considered that should the scarfed ninja take interest in Kakashi like Sakumo had feared, if Sakumo repented his fault, the village, no matter how grudgingly, would protect Kakashi. Perhaps Sakumo had feared that if he hadn't done so and the scarfed ninja attacked, the village would ignore the trouble Kakashi would be in because of their anger and resentment towards the Hatake clan, incited by what seemed like arrogant behaviour from Sakumo because Sakumo had brushed off the huge shame he brought to the village like he hadn't done anything wrong.

Kakashi could never be sure what his father had truly thought because the man wasn't here anymore. But Kakashi knew without a doubt that to save his son, from being ostracized by the village, Sakumo would (and did) happily throw his life away. _Anything, _as long as Kakashi would have a better life from then on. – That was the type of loving man Sakumo was.

And perhaps, if Kakashi noted the logic was not completely sound on all levels – especially since he'd actually told Sakumo he cared for nothing but his father by his side – Kakashi should've recalled that Sakumo wasn't in the best state of mind at the time when he'd told him that. There were bombs and bombs of shocking revolutions that preceded Kakashi's cheesy little speech of complete and utter acceptance that Sakumo's mind was likely still reeling from. And maybe Sakumo hadn't fully realised that Kakashi had actually meant every single sentence of his plead, and they weren't merely words of comfort from a desperate six-year-old.

And even had Sakumo completely understood what his son was telling him, Kakashi supposed he should've realised what drastic measure a protective father would take – in particular one who's mentality was unaccounted for at that time, but from what Kakashi could only assume now, had still been slowly weakening. Jiraiya and Kakashi's loyalty to Sakumo could only do so much for Sakumo's emotional state in a village full of hatred – especially when once upon a time Sakumo had valued them all as his close family and friends.

Kakashi _had_ noticed Sakumo's vulnerable mentality, but he'd never assumed up until now it was actually so bad; he hadn't realised Sakumo had been locking up so much, even with Jiraiya by him lending him his ears and a shoulder to cry on. Everyone and everything was eating away at Sakumo, except for the constant fact that he needed to protect Kakashi – which may or may not have been made even more important to his list of priorities by Kakashi's precious declarations – and so that was what Sakumo eventually only focused on. This which ultimately lead to seppuku.

Kakashi had miscalculated. Horribly.

At least this time, Sakumo had tried to avoid traumatising Kakashi – he really did! If Kakashi actually managed to find Jiraiya like Sakumo had intended him to, Sakumo likely thought Jiraiya would note something odd and find his body before Kakashi would. Heck, he probably thought Jiraiya would comfort Kakashi as the Uncle he was, and would be or would find a suitable guardian for Kakashi. But Jiriaya, the ever-fleeting man that he was, hadn't known of Sakumo's plans, and left before either of the Hatake knew.

And now Kakashi was alone, the fate that his father had succumbed to fresh in his mind once more. _His dad was dead again._

While, in Kakashi's opinion, _that_ was the most important problem, the village Head and Elders had other matters on their mind. It was no surprise that with the anguish Kakashi was in, he disregarded one crucial fact. A fact he was made aware of in the Hokage Tower now, surrounded by the Hokage himself and surprisingly, a group of Elders behind him.

The problem was, Kakashi was legally not an adult anymore. When his dad died the first time around, Kakashi had been a genin – a ninja. That title immediately labeled him as an adult. He was old enough to kill, so he was old enough to take care of himself. He was capable and dependent in the eyes of the villagers. This time around, Kakashi gave up his chance to become shinobi. He was a civilian. He was (supposedly) weak. He was required by law to have a guardian or risk being put in an orphanage.

And so, around him, the adults talked over his head at this predicament. Their voices were swirling into a mess, but Kakashi was only half-paying attention. Because even while Kakashi was steady standing on the ground, in his mind, words were swirling in a dizzying storm he couldn't repress.

"I should've been able to save him …" The proclamation overflowed his mind, and Kakashi couldn't help whispering it out, but his voice was so faint and dead, it was unheard by those arguing around him. But it made no difference, because really, what good were those words now?

* * *

_A/N: I'm sure some of you still find faults with my reasoning for Sakumo's death. But all I hope for by this point is that it's relatively understandable._


	27. Opinion

_A/N: For the longest time I thought Danzou was part of the council, but after a short bit of research on Narutowiki, it turns out I was wrong. Huh; you learn something new everyday._

_Chapter 27: Opinion_

* * *

While the Hokage held the role of deciding the outcome of the inhabitants of Konoha, both shinobi or civilian, the village's Councillors were always present to give their unadulterated opinion on matters. As such, when the controversial problem of the placement of the now orphaned Hatake arose, the decision rested not solely on the Hokage's shoulders, but the councillors as well.

It was out of courtesy and long standing tradition that Sarutobi held his peace with the two councilmen, Homura and Koharu, who seemed to favour similar militant views for Konoha's future as his old friend Danzou. In fact the three elders of the village, Homura, Koharu, and Danzou tended to regularly side against Sarutobi due to their distinctively polar views. Hiruzen Sarutobi believed in the protection of his people and the idea of peaceful, cherished childhoods to fuel the rest of his citizen's lives. The other three elders, on the other hand, for their views of a strong Konoha leading the Elemental Countries with their obedient prowess and an unrivaled skills, it was no wonder they disapproved of an obstinate child like Kakashi, who had no desire for the shinobi arts.

And so, this lead to the scene Kakashi was in currently, standing in the Hokage's office as the councilmen and Danzou, who was present to offer his humble opinion due to his experience and wisdom, sat before Kakashi arguing about his fate like he wasn't present and listening.

"He's just a child – a civilian no less!"

"He is a Hatake, much like his father. Sakumo, intentionally disobeyed orders by selfishly abandoning his mission, and as a result, greatly shamed the distinguishing name Konoha had been building for herself. Who is to say he won't do the same in the future?"

Kakashi had drifted away from the argument at the start of the discussion; fortunately, by the time he refocused they were still on the same topic. Or rather _unfortunately_, another part of him would admit, because Kakashi didn't want to hear anymore of his father until he got a better hold of himself and his overwrought emotions.

"He saved his teammates who would have otherwise died," was the Hokage's calm response.

But Sarutobi's words had no effect on the other three with their unyielding ideals. Stubborn voices stacked layers upon layers on each other's beliefs, crafting a trembling tower Kakashi craved to strike down just to get them all to stop.

"And he failed his mission. He brought nothing but shame to Konoha and our client's trust. He disgraced our village."

A crinkled hand gripped his pipe as his sharp eyes washed over the Elders arguing against him. "And Sakumo has already atoned for his 'crimes' in the most honourable way possible," the old man argued.

"He has, and as a fellow shinobi, I respect his actions to redeem himself. But you know perfectly well, Hizruzen, as the head of Konoha, we also have the responsibility of the _whole_ village. Sakumo's atonement does not change the fact that the dignity of Konoha has fallen as a result of his foolish decision – there forever will be a stain in our reputation."

Kakashi had tried not to retort back at the elders, least he make his situation any worse, but Kakashi really couldn't help himself on such a sore topic. "Saving lives is just as important, if not more, than finishing a mission. Without shinobi, the missions would not even be able to be carried out in the first place, let alone succeed to improve the standing of the village," Kakashi snapped as calmly as he could, because encouraged by Obito's speech, the importance of a comrade's life was everything he lived by.

But the councilmen paid the boy's words little heed. Between age and rank, Kakashi was nowhere near their level; his person was nowhere near prominent enough for them to regard his words as anything other than childish blathering. Kakashi's outburst meant nothing to them except as further reasoning against the boy.

"You can see the child clearly fully supports Sakumo's doings; he doesn't see Sakumo has done any wrong – he has no regards for our sacred Shinobi Rules. I disagree with your decision to house him in the orphanage, Hiruzen. Civilian or not, the child will corrupt potential shinobi with his wayward ideas."

"He is just a child."

"We should take no unnecessary chances for the greater good of our Village's name. The Hatake will be Konoha's downfall."

These were reputable councilmen, Kakashi knew; their importance over the governing of Konoha were respected and held a great influence. But despite knowing that, Kakashi couldn't help the twitching of his hands, itching to creep to his sides to pull out the kunai he'd hidden previously on his person, and give the councilmen a fright - or _anything_ to cease their imperious manner. "All you care about is the ideal Konoha. You'll never achieve it if you don't think about the _people_ living in it."

"The people living in it, boy," Koharu retorted, "the shinobi, are the warriors of the Hidden Village of the Leaf. Their duty is to carry out missions for our great Village. The strength of our shinobi exists for the reason of aiding our Village to prosper against others. Sakumo did not just fail his mission, he threw away his Village for an impulsive, imprudent decision. Understood?" the Elder explained in a harsh patronizing tone. "Now do not interrupt any further, boy. Just what has Sakumo been teaching you? He a disappointment as a ninja, a disappointment as a parent-"

Kakashi froze. The words stung personally; Kakashi wasn't about to let them turn their words on Sakumo's personal life, especially when this discussion had nothing to do with it, especially when they didn't know the loving, kind father Kakashi knew. Kakashi snapped, having had enough of listening quietly. "Stop it!" he hissed. The air seemed to crackle mildly with electricity, "Don't you dare talk about my dad like that. His parenting has nothing to do with where I should go. In fact, just leave me alone. I can take care of myself."

His grey-blue eyes flared with anger as he stared unflinchingly at the Elders. He barely acknowledged the Hokage getting up and kneeling down slowly beside him. "Kakashi, calm down. I agree your father was a great man, and no one here is able to appreciate all that he has done for us. But as harsh as it is, we are all entitled to our own opinions," Sarutobi whispered softly, "And you shouldn't be alone. Especially not right now. You're much too young to be able to take care of yourself."

The old man looked gently at the boy, and Kakashi was reminded of how warm and kind-hearted the Sandaime was. Kakashi swallowed his anger. "You know I'll be fine. You know I'll be able to," the masked boy said at last, once he was certain his voice wouldn't accidentally lash out into a snarl.

The old man shook his head immediately. "No child, you are only six. Don't put such a burden on yourself. I know you're smart enough, mature enough, but you are still only six." _And you've just had such a traumatising experience_, the old man's eyes conveyed silently.

Kakashi took a deep breath, pushing aside the strong emotion of grief and self-loath that his child-self seemed to be able to bring out so much more easily than his older self. Kakashi wrestled tensely with his emotions for a long while, until he was finally feeling old once more from that familiar feeling of piecing himself back together after everything went wrong. It was so nostalgic, and so _hateful, _but this feeling was so much more familiar to deal with. "I can stay on my own, so I won't 'corrupt' anyone," the boy said giving a restrained glance over to the Elder who'd made that very point, "I can and I'm willing to," Kakashi stated simply, pushing determination into his tone. _He'd done it once before._

"My boy …"

"You could come to check up on me once in a while?" Kakashi words seemed so rebellious and stubborn, it only made the Sandaime want to shake his head once more; but Kakashi's idea did seem reasonable and workable, and also quite considerate of the Elders' issues.

Sarutobi pondered to himself. He himself could personally check up on the boy – he wanted to, were he not so busy. Kakashi _looked_ fine; he _looked_ like he wasn't affected, but Sarutobi knew better. And with his busy schedule, he didn't have the time to come daily to check up on the young Hatake and make sure _for certain_ Kakashi was going to be okay.

He wasn't going to let down an old friend's son. He wouldn't let Kakashi be crippled by this obstacle; he wouldn't allow Kakashi's trauma get the better of him just because he was not attentive enough to the boy. Kakashi had a whole life in front of him, with potential not many could rival. He was a prodigy, that boy - one who would do many great things in the future, as long as he wasn't held back by everything that had happened to him lately.

The Hokage glanced down at the small silver-haired boy, mind running ideas upon ideas. The word prodigy struck a chord in his mind, and the old man smiled suddenly, a plan in mind. "Hmm, I might have an answer to your problem," he mused. He took a puff of his smoke, wondering what to do before he could arrange everything. "Do you want to sleep at the hospital, Kakashi? We'll take care of your living residence tomorrow." God forbid the boy to spend more time in the Hatake Compound after what he saw there.

But to the Hokage's surprise, Kakashi shook his head. "No, I'll go home," he insisted.

The pipe in Sarutobi's mouth bobbed for a second, threatening to fall off his lips. "Child, you do not need to go back if you don't wish to. We can find you an inexpensive apartment to live in – one affordable with the Hatake funds, or orphan allowance."

Want, need, guilt, shame, hate, sorrow, frustration, determination – Kakashi's emotions cycled through it all. There was a story to go with each and every one, but for the life of him, the Hokage could not fit together the pieces properly to make any sense. Kakashi shook his head, clearing his face, before the Hokage could dwell on the matter any longer. "No, I want to go home," he said softly.

"Kakashi," the Village Leader spoke. There was nothing more to that sentence, but the tone Sarutobi said the boy's name in told Kakashi all that the Hokage wanted him to know, and then some.

And still, Kakashi only shook his head. "I think… " Eyes glazed momentarily, and then the boy's voice grew determined. "I need to go home," he finally said.

In front of Kakashi, old, dark eyes closed in defeat as a hand held on tightly to his wooden pipe. "Very well then," the old man sighed. He called for an Anbu. "Deer will take you home, Kakashi. And my dear boy, if anything bothers you, just call for him and he will come to help you immediately, understood?"

The man-turned-boy smiled softly at the old Hokage's worries. "Of course, Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi nodded, "Alright then, get some rest now." And hope everything would be fine in the morning.


	28. Introductions

_A/N: This chapter was a pain to type, so I'm sorry if it doesn't flow too smoothly :c _

_And I know I missed an update. I'll make it up to you faithful readers by posting an extra update soon, but not this week, 'kay? :)  
Btw, I was going through Naruto sites, and I found out that Sakumo actually died in canon when Kakashi was eight. ...oops. My only excuse is that I didn't know this until now._

_Chapter 28: Introductions_

* * *

Minato was confused when the Hokage suddenly called him to his office barely a few day after he returned from his mission. He was shocked when he learnt of his friend's death. He was horrified when he heard that little Kakashi – only _six_ – was the first one to find him, sitting in his father's own blood. He was appalled when he was told what the Elders of the council had said (in front of Kakashi, no less!). And he was determined to help the little boy through the childhood he deserved after all that had happened to him.

Sakumo was a dear friend of Minato's. He'd met the silver-haired man through Jiraiya, and in him, he'd found a father. Minato couldn't call Sakumo the most diligent of fathers, but he certainly tried his best to help Minato whenever he could.

It was a bright, joyful day that seemed to glow even happier when Minato first learned that his dear friend's son was born – almost a little clone of Sakumo, in fact. But by that time, Minato had been promoted to Jounin, and could hardly find the time to visit as much as he wanted to. When Sakumo's wife died, Minato decided it would be best to give the man a little space. And before he knew it, little Kakashi had grown up, and Sakumo was dead.

Dead_ - seppuku!_

There was so much going on lately, so much he'd missed out on, during the extended mission he had deployed to. Minato almost didn't know what to address first to stop his head from spinning from the influx of devastating information. "With all due respect, Hokage-sama, why did you send Kakashi back to the Hatake compound?" Minato finally enquired in aghast when he found out where the little boy had spent the night.

The Hokage's answer was simple, and the old man looked like he was perturbed by the words he spoke himself. "He wished for it."

Minato froze, uncertain if it was horror or shock that had made him. Hadn't Kakashi been mentally scarred enough? He had to go back to the Hatake Compound where that dreadful event occurred, and on his own accord? And Sarutobi let him? Minato uttered out his concerns not a second later when his voice caught up to his mind.

The Hokage shook his head solemnly, "No, I completely agree with your argument. I did not wish for Kakashi to stay there, but young Kakashi, however, refused to have it any other way."

"But-"

Sarutobi interrupted Minato with another shake of the head, "They were haunted eyes, Kakashi's, but above that, there was absolute resolution in them when Kakashi made the request to me. I will not deny the boy something he desperately wants at a time like this, especially if it is something I can readily give him."

The blond frowned, trying his best to comprehend the young boy's mental frame, but in the end he could only lower his bewildered gaze and accept reality. "If that's what Kakashi _really_ thought was best," Minato said reluctantly. Minato found it hard to believe any boy would be able to stomach spending the night where the ghost of his father would continuously haunt his mind and nightmares … but then again, Jiraiya and Sakumo had always told him how strong and resilient Kakashi was – yet, Minato highly doubt they meant in respect to events like these.

Before Minato's mind could wander any longer, Sarutobi's voice cut through his thoughts, a sharp, studious look on his face. "Are you certain you do not mind dropping by daily to check up on Kakashi? It will be a burden on your busy schedule, and I refuse to assign it as a D-rank to you." _For Kakashi was a child – he was more than just a mission._

Minato could hear the unspoken words; words that echoed his own thoughts completely. The blond gave a strong, sharp nod. "Of course, Hokage-same. I will take responsibility of Kakashi, I promise. I am willing to diligently visit Kakashi without fail," the blond stated determinately.

Sarutobi graced the man with an assured smile as he lowered his pipe. "But Kakashi is still a child, Minato, I need you to understand that. Do you know how to care for children?"

The blond froze slightly. "To be honest," Minato lowered his head, "I don't. I'm willing to try my hardest, but I don't know how successful I will be." The blond tilted his head to the side, a half-bitter smile on his face as he remembered conversations he had in the past, "I'd always thought I would end up as Kakashi's Jounin teacher, you know, when Kakashi is ten and graduated from the Academy." Minato paused, "Or possibly even slightly younger, by the way Sakumo kept proudly telling Jiraiya his son was a prodigy. I never imaged it to turn out like this." Minato stared out the windows of the Hokage's office, with a dry chuckle on his lips, "Did you know Sakumo said he was going to try pulling strings to get Kakashi on my team?"

"He might've mentioned it once or twice to me in the passing, before Kakashi gave up the idea of the Academy," Sarutobi said fondly, remembering the teasing bribes of Sakumo and his own student.

Minato's shoulders shook slightly. The sad smile on the blond's face only seemed more and more forced as time proceeded. "I promised Sakumo I would take care of Kakashi. The fact that the promise isn't in regards to training and missions any longer, doesn't mean a thing; I'll take care of Kakashi."

There was a short silence as the Hokage tried to form his next words as delicately as he could. The question had to be asked, "Do you honestly care for Kakashi, or is this just a promise to you?"

The blond chewed his lip thoughtfully, pondering over the question, because even he himself wanted to make sure before answering confidently. Because if he _wasn't _sure, it wouldn't he him who would suffer the consequences, it would be Kakashi. And the boy had suffered enough already. It was only a moment later when Minato answered, certain of his own words, "Jiraiya and Sakumo were like fathers to me, just as much as they were mentors. I remember how much that meant to me. _No one_ should be alone." His voice grew steadier with every word. "I won't let Kakashi fall into despair. I care about him. I know it."

Sarutobi could see the sincerity in Minato's voice. The old man smile, while creasing, wrinkled eyes shut with relief. "Thank you."

And that was all that needed to be said.

So now, Minato found himself standing in front of the Hatake Compound, unable to raise his hand to knock. Butterflies invaded, spawned, and flipped in acrobatic numbers in his stomach as he stared at the door. This was worse than asking a girl out on a date, the man decided unpremeditatedly, as his limps remained stiff and unable to knock.

Minato had already wasted a good portion of his morning milling about the entrance of the Hatake Compound, trying to hold in his growing worries. What was he doing here again? There must've been plenty others who could take better care of a child than him. He was only in his early, _early_ twenties. He didn't know how to properly take care of children; what if he scared Kakashi? Did the boy even remember him?

Minato wondered why he was so eager to agree last night in the Hokage Tower, especially considering how inexperienced he was with this whole thing. He was probably better suited to mentor Kakashi than anything else, like Sakumo had originally hoped for. Minato was raised a ninja, lived as a ninja. How did little kids play? What was he supposed to do with Kakashi?

What if Kakashi found him bothersome? Minato had agreed to drop by whenever he didn't have missions to check up and take care of Kakashi until the boy was of age, but what was he going to do if Kakashi tired of him right away and demanded for Minato to leave him alone? The boy was probably going to label him as some weird old man who kept intruding into his home.

Before his frantic mind could pile on anymore doubt, Minato forced his hand to drop onto the door to knock. He knew there was only so much thinking and speculating he could take before he would start changing his mind due to nervousness, and that wouldn't do because he did honestly want to help Kakashi, this apprehensive feeling in his chest or not.

Several moments later, the vibrations of soft padding footsteps could be heard approached slowly from inside the house. Minato could feel his heart thud in response.

The door opened without warning, much too soon for Minato's liking. Owlish grey-blue eyes, wide in surprise – fear? – stared up at him. The blond felt his mouth dry. _What to say now?_ "H-hello. Are you Kakashi?" Minato managed out before groaning internally at his own absurd words. Kakashi was the only one living in the Hatake Compound, after all.

Nevertheless, Kakashi's fear of him seemed to suddenly subside as his eyes quickly slid into a look of wonder. Minato continued talking, hoping it would calm the boy (or more accurately, calm himself). "Do you remember me? I'm friends with your dad. We've met when you were this small," Minato said, holding up his hand to the appropriate size. There was a pause and Minato desperately tried to grasp at another topic to talk about before the silence could evolve into something more awkward.

That wasn't necessary, however, as Kakashi spoke up instead. "Really?" The soft question caught Minato by surprise because Kakashi had been staring at him with a dazed look all this time, and Minato honestly had been doubting the boy heard anything he'd said. Minato held still as Kakashi's eyes washed over his figure with some sort of dark, hidden emotion in those grey-blue eyes of his. A second later, the boy's face stretched into a smile. "I think my dad mentioned it once," Kakashi murmured lightly with a tilt of the head.

"Is that so?" Minato replied. He tried to keep his voice from being too tense, but Minato didn't think it worked, because he was already holding back so much that it was starting to reflect in his voice. The moment Minato saw Kakashi, he could see the old, weary eyes of someone who'd seen too much of the evils of their world. It pained Minato's heart to see a boy as young as six could be traumatised by his father's ostracization and death so thoroughly that the pain reflected so clearly on his innocent face. Minato desperately ached to hug the boy, or heck, _anything _to ease the lingering hurt from Kakashi's soul, but he couldn't because he was practically a stranger to Kakashi and he didn't want the boy to be even more scared.

Minato didn't know what Kakashi was thinking anymore, but his heart suddenly jumped when two small pale hands softly clamped over his own without warning, pulling him into the house. The silver-haired boy shot him another smile. "Do you want something to drink?" the boy asked politely. Minato nodded wordlessly, allowing Kakashi to pull him along.

The blond let his eyes fall on Kakashi's small form as they walked through the hallway, wondering what to do now. Because despite the frantic mess he was inside, seeing Kakashi now, Minato knew with all his heart that no matter how long it took, he would definitely take care of the six-year-old; a sweet little boy like Kakashi deserved more than what he had right now, and Minato was determined to give him just that.


	29. Caretaker

_Chapter 29: Caretaker_

* * *

Kakashi had always considered himself a lucky man. Despite his what-seemed-like never ending losses of family and friends, he'd survived much longer than the average shinobi life-expectancy and he'd taught a genin team who'd been effectively becoming legendary in their own ways in the impending Fourth Shinobi War. Luck had always been a relative thing, anyways. Kakashi was sure somewhere in the world his losses weren't half as bad or distressing as other shinobi. Besides, despite everything, Kakashi, through an unimaginable miracle, had been given a second chance to save his loved ones.

Admittedly, saving his father hadn't gone as well as he thought it would, but that only gave him more incentive to make sure Obito, Rin, Minato, and all those who could be saved _would_ be saved. He wouldn't fail a second time, Kakashi vowed determinately, because this time he would try even harder in order to make sure his father's death wasn't in vain – he owed his father's sacrifice that much.

And if Kakashi was being honest with himself, maybe it was true that he was still hurting inside, but he knew moping about it would get him nowhere. Even if he felt like lately he had to get through the days by desperately pushing happy yet hollow thoughts, words, and expressions to cover up his anguish, it was an honest start and Kakashi had to start somewhere, right?

Kakashi was half-certain some all-powerful being up there in the beyond decided to take pity on his current dreary situation when the next day Kakashi's luck struck once more early that morning.

Kakashi couldn't believe his eyes, his body freezing for a mere second, when a bright smiling sunshine blond woke him up with a sharp knock on his Compound doors. Kakashi never expected Minato-sensei was going to be part of his life already, especially considering the man had no reason to visit him since he was no longer his mentor. Kakashi had been harbouring thoughts on initiating his introduction to the cheery blond himself as soon as he managed to conjure up a good excuse, but it seemed like fate had other plans. This was truly a surprising turn of events. Of course, Minato took Kakashi's woozy stare as a sign of mistrust and fear.

"H-hello," the blond said softly, "Are you Kakashi?"

Kakashi nodded, snapping out of his stupor. He opened the door wider to let the man in, eyes refusing to leave the oh-so familiar sight of his beloved sensei.

Whether or not Minato noticed his invitation into the Compound, Kakashi couldn't be sure, but the man continued talking, seemingly in a daze of his own. "Do you remember me? I'm friends with your dad. We've met when you were this small," he said, holding his hands apart to a size of what could only be an infant.

Kakashi offered the man a soft smile. "Really? I think my dad mentioned it once," Kakashi responded. Minato was speaking so slowly and gently, like he was afraid Kakashi was going to break down if he raised his voice. Minato had never been like this the first time around. Kakashi couldn't stand it; he was not that fragile. Kakashi wanted a deep bond with his sensei, something akin to the one they'd had in the future when Kakashi finally opened up to Minato. But they would never get anywhere if Minato kept acting like Kakashi would fall apart in a gust of wind.

The blond seemed to be considering something to himself as he said, "Is that so?" in a voice that made Kakashi slightly apprehensive. The silver-haired boy had noticed what seemed like confidence slowing building up behind Minato's nervous cerulean blue eyes as their conversation proceeded, but it appeared the blond wasn't quite comfortable standing before him after all.

For a second, Kakashi wondered what he should be doing. Another half of his mind wondered if Minato-sensei – no, Minato-san – was going to bolt if he let the silence hang for any longer. It was a bit impulsive on his part, but Kakashi sudden reached up with both his hands, pulling Minato into the compound before the blond _did_ decided to change his mind an leave. "Do you want something to drink?" he asked, already leading the way without letting the man decide.

Kakashi could feel Minato dutifully following after him, and the masked boy had to suppress a childish giggle (he wasn't sure if he was really amused or perhaps the stress was getting to him) that seemed to build up seeing the stupor the man was in. It was a struggle to keep in his inane need to giggle, and Kakashi was certain he'd look more insane than anything else if he'd let his laughter come free. But something deep inside Kakashi was swelling like a balloon in his chest, making him restless and feeling like he _had_ to do _something_, because he couldn't just walk carefreely like everything was fine in his life. And yet another part of him wondered why he was so fidgety because he'd never had this little control over his emotions except when he'd actually been a kid, and despite how he looked at the moment he wasn't _truly_ one anymore.

Nevertheless, Kakashi eventually managed to push away his urge the whole journey through the Compound. The moment they reached the kitchen, Kakashi guided the blond over to a chair before kicking a stool over to the cabinets to reach into the overhead shelves for his guest cups.

Minato seemed to snap out of his stupor as he watched Kakashi clamber up the stool and table for them. "Let me," the blond insisted, heading over, words tumbling out in a bit of an uncertain rush.

"I've got it," Kakashi said, but the blond merely reached over him, getting the cups before Kakashi could even touch them. "Oh," the boy paused. "Thanks."

Minato grinned. "I'm here to help."

Kakashi felt a small smile tug at the corners of his lips at the man's familiar tone as Minato's tense voice from before melted back into his naturally relaxed timbres. He fixed a curious look on his face. "Oh, are you?" Kakashi inquired interestedly, already gathering the kettle to pour their tea.

Minato seemed to pause, running the question over in is mind. "Well, yes, actually," he finally said, "In a way." The man sat down by the dining room table, following Kakashi's lead. He scratched his cheek nervously, fingers spinning the full cup of tea in his hands in an anxious twitch. "Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about," Minato continued in the same cautious tone.

"Yes?"

Kakashi waited patiently as Minato gathered his nerves. The older man took a deep breath. "Yes. Because you're a minor living alone now that-" The blond started before shaking his head and starting over. "Because you're still a child and living alone, the Hokage thought it would be best if someone could come and check up on you. In case you have any concerns."

Kakashi nodded, wrapping his hand around his warm teacup. "The Hokage mentioned about it yesterday," the boy recalled. He just never realised Hokage-sama would get Minato to do it.

"Ah!" The blond suddenly cried out, drawing Kakashi's eyes upon him. Minato stared into Kakashi's eyes, his own glowing with sincerity he tried to convey to the boy as he spoke. "I want you to understand that I'm not only doing this because I was ordered to. I _chose_ to look after you, so don't think you'll be a burden. If there's _anything_, just let me know, okay?"

Kakashi couldn't help the small amused grin rising on his face at his sensei's frantic words. Minato didn't need to tell him that; Kakashi knew better than anyone how kind-hearted the Jounin was. "Okay," he said out loud nevertheless, hoping to calm Minato down, "I'll let you know."

Minato grinned at him with something akin to relief hiding behind his stretching lips. For another few minutes, silence enveloped the two. Minato anxiously tapped his finger on the side of his cup, starting to look a bit apprehensive when Kakashi didn't say anything more because, Kakashi supposed, Minato likely was under the impression that all six-year-olds were known for being unrestrained and chatty. Kakashi took pity on the man. "I'm Kakashi," the silver-haired boy said, opening up a conversation, "I'm six, and I like … reading."

"Ah," Minato sounded, probably only realising he'd failed to make any proper introduction of himself. "I'm Minato Namikaze. Call me Minato." The man rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "Well, I'm twenty, and a Jounin. My teacher, Jiraiya-sensei, and your dad were great friends." Minato pursed his lips in thought before his eyes lit up at another topic to share, an amused grin on his face. "Jiraiya-sensei was always complaining how it was my fault I lost him the claim of having cutest protégé once you were born," Minato confided playfully.

The boy rolled his eyes. "That sounds like them," Kakashi snorted, thinking back on all the childish bragging competitions the two indulged themselves in. A second later, Kakashi struggled to hold his grin steady, trying to swallow back down the twisting ball in his chest that was trying to force its way out when he was reminded once again of what he'd lost.

They'd lapsed into another silence afterwards as Kakashi was content to study the young form of his sensei before him, trying to keep himself in the present, while Minato had absolutely no idea what more to say to the six-year-old. Then man continuously ran his hand through his messy blond hair with increasing frequency, as though the action itself was trying to make up for the lack of words being spoken between them. Finally the blond took a sip of his tea, offering Kakashi a solemn smile. "Do you need to talk about it?" he asked hesitantly.

Kakashi glanced up at the man's terrible attempt to play therapist. It was nice that Minato was trying so hard; after all, this must've been awkward for the man, considering how nervous he'd been hardly half-an-hour ago. But no, Kakashi was fine. He wasn't traumatised no matter what Minato may have thought, and in fact, Kakashi just really didn't want to think about it _at all_.

Some of the pain must've leaked though as the Jounin leaned forward across the table closer to Kakashi, as if physical contact would help ease the burden; as if the closer he was, it would help transfer some of the pain over to Minato. "Are you sure you're fine?" Minato insisted, concern stitched into each of his words.

Kakashi shook his head. "Don't worry so much about me, Minato-san." The boy's lip quirked upwards for a second, "Adults make too much of a fuss."

Minato looked confused at Kakashi's sudden amusement, and he looked like he wanted to complain at the idle way the silver-haired boy brushed off his honest concern. In the end, Minato clenched his teacup tighter as his muscles twitched like he was suppressing his desire to get up to move closer to Kakashi. "Are you sure there's nothing I can do?" he asked for a final time.

Minato's worried persistence was endearing, Kakashi decided; that was why even as a bitter child in the past he'd never been able to fully despise the blond. Minato was someone who's care for another's wellbeing was so pure and genuine that Kakashi would sometimes find himself confiding to the blond just to stop Minato from over-worrying for his sake. And even if the blond was stumbling his way around Kakashi right now, and holding himself back in fear of startling the six-year-old, Kakashi could tell that Minato truly could worry himself into a frenzy over imaginary issues the a man would assume could be bothering Kakashi.

The silver-haired boy looked up, letting his solemn grey-blue eyes bore into Minato's. "Actually," the silver-haired boy began softly, honestly, "There _is_ one thing I need help organising …" And if letting Minato past the surface of his forced optimistic behaviour helped form a stronger bond between them so much sooner, then all the better, because sometimes Kakashi couldn't help feeling the spark of longing inside for the rekindling of the relationship they'd once had so long ago. Besides, Kakashi _did_ need help with organising a certain project he had in mind, and Minato was more than happy to help.

* * *

_A/N: You'll probably be not as eager to know that the next chapter is one of angst, but on the bright side, there are two updates scheduled for next week, so hopefully the one after makes up for it. :D_


	30. Hero

_Chapter 30: Hero_

* * *

It was weeks after - nearly twenty days of Minato's constant, diligent visits, in fact - before they finished organising what Kakashi had in mind.

Both dressed in black, the two of them, Kakashi and Minato, stood, their moods dark and solemn. It was Sakumo's funeral – or rather, there had been no formal funeral, but just Sakumo's freshly built tombstone. Around the two, the yard was practically bare – no one wanted to come and openly mourn the death of a once-disgraced shinobi. Perhaps on their own time, those who truly admired Sakumo would come and pray for the man, but today, it seemed like the whole cemetery was reserved for Kakashi and Minato themselves.

The sky appeared to echo the mood the two were in, with a gloomy dark sky filling up the sight overhead. Clouds hung sparsely in stretched rows, faintly stained with grey, and tinged pink around the edges, threatening to cry rains of tears in place of Kakashi who desperately had been trying not to do so.

"Are you alright?" Minato asked looking down on the younger boy standing silently beside him whose eyes fixed solely on the stone in front. Cerulean eyes filled with concern as Kakashi barely twitched, barely even reacted to his voice at all.

Grey-blue eyes stared at the grave, glassy and unseeing.

Minato moved a step closer to the hunched boy, his warm body radiating heat in the frigid air. Kakashi barely noticed the blond's presence, but the warmth seemed so foreign in the little world that his mind was encased in that he couldn't help but look up. "It's okay to cry, you know," Minato spoke softly in a soothing tone.

Kakashi's eyes glistened between silver lashes, but otherwise stayed dry. He could see Minato-sensei's lips moving, and he could see the concerned lines etched onto the man's face, but Kakashi couldn't hear him; the world was humming around Kakashi, not a single sound distinct enough for him to make out. The eerie silence of the tatami room, the splatters and splatters of red that seemed to flow endlessly no matter where he looked, and the curling copper scent that mixed with his father's odor in a way that smelled so unnatural that it made his stomach churn – these things filled up everything in his mind, bubbling and overflowing in him like boiling, scalding water.

Kakashi pushed a hand on his aching head before lowering it a minute later, clutching needingly at the clothes above his beating heart. The world faded into a blur as the boy saw nothing but the fresh carved tombstone Kakashi himself (with Minato's assistance) had arranged for his father.

Sakumo was a hero, no matter what anyone thought. If the man wasn't allowed a name on the memorial stone, Kakashi would give him his own, no matter the cost. Sakumo Hatake was a hero whose name shouldn't be forgotten, just as much as every other fallen shinobi KIA. And perhaps no one (not many) at the present time would openly agree with him, but in the future, Sakumo would be looked up to. Because kids like Naruto, and all of Rookie Nine, had unshakable bonds so much stronger than their previous generations, and had minds full of so much more love. These kids were the future of the shinobi world, changing the ridiculous rules and traditions that forbade ninjas to be anything but tools.

But even knowing the radical, inspiring changes to come, that didn't stop the _now_. It gave Kakashi hope for the future (and sometimes, Kakashi needed all the hope he could get), but it didn't stop villagers from look down on Sakumo in these current years. And it didn't reverse the death of Sakumo.

Silver hair swayed in the wind as the boy stood rigid, stoic, trying not to give in to his erratic emotions every time he thought of his fallen father.

"Kakashi …" Minato whispered gently, a tanned hand rubbing lightly on the pale boy's back in a soothing manner. His tone was pleading, fearing Kakashi was going to keep everything inside and eventually destroy himself.

There was a small choking sound from Kakashi, as small pale hands clenched at his own clothes.

"Let it out," Minato ordered quietly. Kakashi didn't respond, but he'd leaned ever so slightly into the blond's touch.

Kakashi's head was bowed, head tilting towards his father's grave, hands clenching tightly, trying desperately to push away vivid memories from arising once more. His chest was throbbing hard, unsuccessfully trying to contain all the misery and pain he had packed so tightly inside. Kakashi had persistently pushed away every thought of that night to the furthest corners of his mind in order to pull on a calm and happy mask for the Hokage, for Minato, for the world to see. But the sight of Sakumo's grave was digging at every crack present, determined to crumble the feeble container like it wasn't even there in the first place.

To see it twice - to see his father slumped in the dark tatami room, blood coating his hands and floor twice, as the scent of stale, familiar blood overpowered his senses - was too much for him.

He didn't want it to happen the first time.

He _definitely_ didn't want it to happen the second time.

_So why did it have to happen?_

Was he just supposed to stand there and watch as everyone succumbed to their future without even being able to hold out his hand to them? Kakashi was so earnest, so hopeful; he wanted so hard to spare the village the loss of their loved ones. He'd thought he was doing so well too, and then his father died and showed him otherwise.

Hate and disparagement curled in Kakashi's stomach like a virus, spitting spiteful words of belittlement at his lack of strength. What was he doing wrong? Was his determination not enough? Was his Will of Fire not burning bright enough? _Was he worthy of even calling himself a noble shinobi of Konoha?_

Kakashi knew he was giving in to his miserable thought by even _considering_ such foolish questions, because if Kakashi was anything, he was persistent and perseverant of any hardships in his way, fighting hard and proud until he came out on top.

This wasn't like him. Kakashi couldn't stand here anymore – he needed space, he needed to breathe, he needed to clear his head.

"I – I want to be alone for a while," Kakashi finally said, pushing himself away from the grave and the spiraling depressing thoughts it was leading to. Minato shot a worried looked over at him even as the boy waved him off. "I'll be fine," Kakashi whispered softly, trying to pull up a comforting smile. "_I will be_."

All he needed was time alone to sort himself out.

* * *

_A/N: I swear, I'm not going to put up another angst chapter than doesn't further the plot; just because I actually do occasionally like writing angst doesn't mean I'm going to make you guys suffer through loads of it, especially with the plot moving so slow already. XD_


	31. Masks

_A/N: Thank you all the reviews :)  
And my response to any questions about the Academy will always be "quite a while from now," no matter how many times you ask it. Although to be fair, I think most people have only asked it once; it's just the accumulative amount from everyone who've asked makes it seem like a lot to me._

_Chapter 31: Masks_

* * *

Kakashi slipped off through the tall standing trees that surrounded the cemetery, to a small clearing not too far away. His eyes flickered with pain as he tried not to think, tried not to let his mind wander off to tangents that did more harm than good for his mental health. He couldn't stay at the grave any longer – it was too hard.

Kakashi liked to think that he was used to death, having seen and caused so many in his whole shinobi career. But this was his father. Not matter how hard he tried to delude himself into thinking he was fine, he wasn't. No one should see their only family die twice in their life. Especially not when he could've stopped it, dammit!

There were so many _'if only'_s that kept swirling in Kakashi's mind, like taunting echoes.

Kakashi bit into his thumb and smeared blood onto his palm, with a jutsu on his lips, eager to silence the voices within. With a silent _puff_, Pakkun came into view.

The small boy glanced down at his faithful summon, eyes full of expression. It had been a while since he'd last summoned his dogs – way before his father's death. He was just too afraid – irrational fear – that his ninken, after knowing what he'd failed to do even when he'd had so much knowledge to prevent it, would look at him with shameful, disappointed eyes that spoke of renouncement.

But that wouldn't happen. It just wouldn't … _couldn't. _

Kakashi stared at the miniature pug on the grass beside him, who in turn was staring silently at him, clearly feeling the oppressed air around. "Pakkun," Kakashi whispered softly, almost hesitantly, "I … failed." His absolute anguish was enough for Pakkun to realise what he'd failed at.

The dog didn't speak, merely nodding his understanding. Pakkun climbed his way onto Kakashi lap and sprawled reassuringly across the boy's legs, allowing Kakashi's nervous, shaking hands stroke his small head. Perhaps that was all Kakashi had needed – knowing that there were still pack (family) with him, and knowing they still trusted him despite his horrendous blunder.

The boy sat in the woods, eyes staring out at nothing, stroking his loyal companion until it started to become a calming gesture to sooth his pressing chest. Kakashi didn't know how long he had been sitting there until a soft crackling of crushing leaves snapped the young boy out of his misery. Grey-blue eyes looked up, meeting a soft cerulean stare.

**x**

Minato had given Kakashi a few hours alone before finally tracing the boy's tracks. He'd found Kakashi sitting in the middle of a field, puppy on his lap, and eyes filled with more emotions than a kid should be allowed to have.

The blond had inched closer and closer without realising it, cerulean eyes locked on Kakashi's dazed ones, trying hard to identify everything he saw. And then, he'd stepped on a dried leaf catching Kakashi's attention. Before Minato could even blink, the boy's eyes shifted, and suddenly all that was left of the sorrowing gaze was unattached indifference.

Minato hated it.

Minato hated Kakashi's skillfully crafted stare. Why couldn't the boy let him in, let him mourn with him? Why did he have to pretend nothing was wrong when something clearly was?

Minato ached to voice his opinions onto the boy, but who was he to tell Kakashi what to think? The six-year-old barely knew him, and the blond didn't want to be known as 'that meddling man' to the Hatake. To Kakashi, he was just some bloke asked to take care of him; he was just some guardian the boy never said he even wanted in the first place.

"Did you find a puppy?" Minato asked instead, heart hating himself every word. He inclined his head towards the miniature pug on Kakashi's lap, only a second before noticing the vest the dog was wearing. A vest with a hand-sewn _heno-heno-moheji_ stitched on the back. "Is he _your_ puppy?" he tried again, bewilderment slowly building up in his tone.

Minato watched as the boy glanced down at the dog, and understanding seemed to flicker between man and beast in a silent agreement. The blond only wondered what just happened.

"He's a pug," Kakashi answered simply, neither answering his question nor giving him anything new.

"Woof," said the pug unconvincingly.

Minato could feel his eyebrows crawling up his forehead. "Is he a _summon_?" he cried incredulously. Because, as far as Minato was concerned, of all animals, only summons could talk. He watched as Kakashi shot a glare at the dog in his lap.

The dog, in return, gave what Minato could only describe as a nonchalant shrug, "Hey, I _said '_woof'," the _summon_ muttered back defensively in an unexpectedly gruff voice.

"That was the least enthusiastic bark I have ever heard coming from a canine," Minato told the miniature pug.

The dog swiveled his had so he was staring at the blond. "Don't you start too," he grumbled, his half-lidded stare reminding Minato eerily of Kakashi's.

Minato quirked a small smile at the pug to amuse him, before turning back to Kakashi. Questions of _how_ a six-year-old boy had a summon demanded to be answered, but Minato couldn't have that. That wasn't the answer he _really_ wanted answered from Kakashi; at least not at this moment. The one he wanted answered was one that Kakashi refused to be honest about. It was the one Kakashi seemed to avoid as much as possible. But heck, even if the boy hated it, Minato would continue to ask it. He wouldn't rest - not until Kakashi stopped lying to him. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," the silver-haired boy said succinctly.

That was an obvious lie.

"Kakashi," the man stressed.

"It just shook me up. I'm fine." A smile graced the boy's feature, but Minato knew better than to trust it. Because he'd seen the deep whirling pit of emotions in his eyes, under that mask, no matter how fleeting. He'd seen it, and he knew the boy was _not fine_.

He'd seen the way Kakashi unconsciously steered as far away as possible from that dreaded room every time he passed by; Kakashi probably didn't even realise what he was doing himself. He'd seen the glances Kakashi gave over at the closed sliding doors (covered in dust, indicating just how long it'd been since anyone last touched them), his gaze holding hatred, longing, and utter despair.

Oh, he'd tried to hide it, that boy, behind that frequent mask of idle indifference or that false, over-cheery childish grin (It hadn't taken Minato long to see through that one). But it was impossible for him – for anyone – to keep their emotions locked in twenty-four-seven. And they shouldn't have had to. Especially a child as young as six.

Minato couldn't see how and why the kid thought he had to suffer through everything alone. What was _he_ here for, goddammit?

_Why did Kakashi insist in living in daily torment at the Hatake Compound? _"Why are you punishing yourself?" Minato asked before he could help himself.

Grey-blue eyes widened at the accusation, swiveling over in shock, "What? I'm –" Even without Minato's help, Kakashi's objection died on his lips. The masked boy shook his head like he was arguing with himself. He clenched his gloved fists. "I'm not," he finally said a moment later. His voice wasn't as confident as it should've been.

Minato stared gently at the young silver-haired Hatake, sitting on the grass with his little fingers picking frantically at his gloves. "I'm not," Kakashi whispered again, this time, more like he was trying to convince himself.

The pug rubbed his head against Kakashi's arms worriedly, and instinctively the boy picked him up, stroking and scratching his problem away.

"Fine," Minato suddenly said, as clearly as he could, snapping the young boy's attention onto him once more. "You say you're not punishing yourself, so don't. Don't live at the Compound anymore."

"What …?" Kakashi began, thrown into confusion.

Impulsiveness and stubbornness fueled Minato's next words. He didn't know where the idea came from or when he'd ever even considered it, but it felt so _right_. "Don't stay there. Live with me," the sunshine blond demanded. It was only when Kakashi's masked jaw fell that Minato caught up to his mouth. Even as his own words registered in this mind he agreed with himself right away. The blond dropped down to his knees, looking pleadingly straight into Kakashi's eyes. "Please?" he asked, letting his hopefulness seep through.

Kakashi looked away suddenly, picking up Pakkun to give the dog an engulfing hug, the mildest of tremor in those clutching fingers of his. Minato couldn't help but sincerely hope that meant '_yes_'.


	32. Home

_Chapter 32: Home_

* * *

Minato owned a small unit in an apartment complex near the outskirts of the village which he'd taken to calling the _Namikaze Complex_ when describing his home to Kakashi. By the time everything was arranged and Minato finally brought Kakashi to the complex, Kakashi already had been informed of everything about the place, from the fact Minato bought his particular unit there because windows faced outwards towards the forest instead of buildings on all four sides, to the trivial details of how his neighbours were retired civilians.

Kakashi kept his hands in his pockets, with a full, heavy bag slung across his shoulders, as he watched Minato unlock the apartment door.

It was an overwhelming surprise for Kakashi when his (former) sensei proposed for Kakashi to move in with him; the masked boy never dreamed Minato would make an offer like that. It wasn't a secret, especially with the way Minato had been fidgeting around Kakashi during their first few days together, that Minato was inexperienced with interacting with kids under even commonplace circumstances. So, it was more than unbelievable that the man would so unhesitantingly ask - almost plead, really - for Kakashi to _live_ with him.

In a matter of a second, Minato eagerly upgraded himself from a mere … drop-in caretaker, if you will, to something more personal, more special. How did things turn out like this? Kakashi wasn't complaining; in fact, he'd never been more delighted, but this was a development Kakashi never expected.

"Come on in," Minato said, a hand gesturing the silver-haired boy in while the other pushed the door open.

"Sorry for intruding," Kakashi murmured politely as he stepped through with the blond.

Minato smiled softly at the masked boy too old for his own good – too polite and nothing like the rambunctious six-year-olds he'd seen around the village. The thought did nothing except continue to circle the dreadful question of just how badly _had_ the whole disgraced affair affected the boy?

But nevertheless, the blond kept his smile plastered on his face, placing a guiding hand on the boy's back. He gently led the silver-haired Hatake past the living room, kitchen, and down the hall. "Here we are," the Namikaze exclaimed, grasping the knob of the first door they walked up to. He opened it to reveal a small but clean room, devoid of much but a basic bed and wardrobe. "I fixed up the guest room for you," Minato explained, showing Kakashi in, "It's a bit small, but-" _Much better than living with your father's ghost haunting your back,_ was what Minato wanted to say, but he couldn't. Not so bluntly, and not to the six-year-old. "- but on the plus side, my room's right on the other side to yours," the blond finished instead.

Kakashi nodded, hearing the unspoken words, but choosing not the comment on it. Besides, Minato _was_ right in a way. The silver-haired boy wandered into the room, _his_ room, a smile slowly relaxing onto his ridged figure.

"The washroom's right beside your room, and we've passed the living room and kitchen on our way here. How about I let you unpack in peace?" Minato suggested. With a silent nod from the boy, the man glided back out the door, leaving Kakashi.

On his own, Kakashi stepped into the center of the room, grey-blue eyes flickering from corner to corner. They landed on the sole window of the room which was set facing the backyard of miles of forest trees. Kakashi stared out for a while with utter blankness in his mind, relishing the feeling of everything around him, before he turned around and finally dropped his pack by the foot of the bed. The boy plopped himself down onto the bed as well, watching a stale gust of air swooshing out from the mattress below.

Perhaps he should've been unpacking as Minato had told him to, but all Kakashi wanted at the moment was to keep his mind blank as the apartment room wrapped around him in a warm way he didn't think was possible from ridged structural buildings.

Minato was right; Kakashi couldn't keep living in the cold, isolated Compound. It just wasn't healthy for him, no matter how old or experience in war and death he was.

'_Why are you punishing yourself,'_ Minato had said to Kakashi the day he suddenly begged Kakashi to live with him. The words visibly struck a cord with Kakashi because he hadn't thought about it like that. Kakashi hadn't deliberately set out to _punish _himself; he'd just felt the need to remind himself of the high chances that things _would_ go wrong once again. - and maybe somewhere in his heart he'd also wished to have something that held a connection with the happier times he had with his father; and maybe he might've also been trying to affirm to himself that he truly was a changed man from his previous childhood, and giving up his family Compound echoed his impassive child-self too much. There were so many bits and pieces of reasons that didn't all completely make a whole, to the point where perhaps the underlining message that held everything together, hidden beneath the half-truths, _was_ the fact that he was punishing himself - he'd only been trying to delude himself otherwise. Frankly, he'd substituted the memorial stone with his own Compound.

And gradually the Compound became like a _konaki-jiji_, weighing down on him like a heavy ghost, heavier and heavier until it started to crush him alive. Because unlike the memorial stone, Kakashi lived in the Compound, unable to escape the dread, guilt, and hate that haunted every breath he took.

Minato was completely right in pulling him out of that dreary house.

Lost in thought, Kakashi was still on the bed kicking his legs that hung bent off the sides, when a soft knock sounded at his door a few minutes later. Kakashi looked up to see Minato walking in, arms clutched around a wrapped lump. "What do you think about it?" Minato asked, face slanted into a hopeful gaze.

Kakashi felt his lip quirk at the man's concern. "I like it. It's … homey," he said sincerely. And it really did. Kakashi hadn't realise how cold it was for him to go home and sleep every night until he stepped foot in Minato's apartment. It was small, but everything about it was comfortable and warm. The Compound hadn't really been home for him ever since his father died once again. And honestly, after all that, he didn't think he could ever call it home without a wrenching feeling rising in his stomach at the thought of it; even though he'd only been in the Namikaze Complex for one day, it already was feeling like the safe, loving home that the Hatake Compound would never be anymore.

The blond smiled at Kakashi's words. "That's wonderful," he grinned in relief. "Oh, here," he added a second later, handing over the unidentifiable package.

Kakashi stared at it. "Okay?"

Minato shrugged, scratching his cheek. "It's a present," he explained, "A welcoming present?"

Kakashi felt touched. Whether or not the blond knew Kakashi was in a mournful mood, Minato always knew what to do to make him feel better. With a fond smile under his mask, Kakashi unwrapped the gift, eyes widening amusedly as he made out what it was.

Minato grin widened at the silver-haired boy's face. "It's a dog cushion," he said, as though Kakashi had no idea. "I thought your summon, Pakkun, might want a place to sleep if he comes to visit again."

Kakashi turned the cushion over in his hands. "Thank you," he said almost stiffly, feeling a bit choked at the blond's thoughtfulness. The silver-haired boy stared at the cushion in his hands once more. For a second, the boy couldn't help the large, amused grin that passed over his face.

"Problem?" Minato asked, catching sight of it.

Kakashi waved it off with a shrug. "Nothing," he chuckled, knowing Minato wouldn't understand; not if the blond only knew Pakkun. It just occurred to him that he might need a _lot _more cushions if the present was for his summons. Eight dogs couldn't possibly all fit on this tiny thing. It was going to be fun to watch them try, though.

"Thank you," Kakashi said again, eyes still glistening in amusement.

Minato sent the boy a cheerful smile, glad Kakashi seemed to be in a lighter mood than he'd ever seen the boy. "You're welcome," he said. "Now come along when you're done unpacking!" Minato cheered, "There's this one place I've been dying to show you." The man drooled, "I'll introduce you to the best ramen you'll ever taste!"

Kakashi only grinned knowingly under his mask.

* * *

_A/N: Haha, nope, no ramen scene for any of you ;P Maybe somewhere in the future when Obito comes along?_

_Sorry, sorry! I've been absolutely horrible at answering reviews lately! I keep telling myself I'll do it later, and eventually it ends up with me deciding whether to answer, or actually type and post up the next chapter (barely) on time. :d Maybe I need to urge myself to answer right away instead of letting it all pile up... But please know that I love each and every one of the reviews I've gotten so far!_

_(and now I've got to sleep before I'm even more sleep deprived)_


	33. Doubt

_Chapter 33: Doubt_

* * *

Kakashi needed to train. Every time he closed his eyes, if it wasn't his father, it was the image of a burning Konoha that flashed before his mind. He could hear the crying screams of his comrades, he could remember the spray of warm blood that washed across his skin as his friends sacrificed their lives for their village, he could see the dark empty crater that was left of a decimated Konoha, and he would never forget the tears that flooded down everyone's faces as everything they loved disappeared one by one. He wouldn't let it happen again – never again.

Just coming back into the past was not enough; Kakashi needed to be proactive. He needed to act, or else history would just repeat itself over and over again. But he couldn't do it recklessly either – who knew just how greatly one careless action could affect the future. Kakashi needed to change things - small things that in the long run was for the better, but didn't drastically change everything completely (because Kakashi needed to be able to know what was relatively going to occur if he wanted to make sure things turned out fine).

That was much easier said than done… His first try was a complete failure. His father's tombstone could account for that.

Kakashi didn't have a solid plan of action for the present – there were ideas about re-initiating that unknown 'scarfed ninja' strategy that Kakashi had started a while ago, but Kakashi was still putting it off because he wanted to come up with other options before he put anything into action. Despite this dilemma, however, there _was_ one thing Kakashi knew he had to do; he couldn't be some weak, defenseless boy if he wanted to change things, no matter what the final plan may be. That was why, diligently, Kakashi slipped off to train on his own whenever he could, trying his hardest to get back into shape and to surpass the level he'd previously been at.

With his thoughts sitting deeply in the midst of the future, he never thought about how his distanced behaviour seemed like to Minato in the present time, who was worried enough about Kakashi feeling comfortable around him as it was.

**x**

When Minato had strolled determinately up to the Hokage days ago telling the old man he was taking Kakashi to live with him in his apartment, Sarutobi hadn't said a thing. The man only nodded knowingly, an expecting smile on his face. The only difference was that Minato found himself coming up to the Hokage Towers more often now, instead of weekly visits, to report to the Village Leader about Kakashi's wellbeing.

Minato didn't mind, knowing the Hokage only wanted to ensure that the boy was improving in health. And once the Kakashi was settled in, they would spread out the reports as it was before. And frankly, the increased reports were a good thing; Minato didn't know who else he could've turned to when the craziness that '_Kakashi had a summon!' _cropped up. But the Hokage quickly assured Minato that he'd already been informed of Pakkun from both Sakumo and Jiraiya, stating it was nothing to worry about – although there was an odd look of wariness underneath the old man's serene posture, faint and wispy like it had been lingering there since that first day he'd been informed Kakashi's new talent.

Nevertheless, the Hokage only told Minato to keep his eyes open and continue to give his reports on Kakashi as usual. That was simple enough; Minato really didn't mind watching and talking about the little masked boy in his care. He enjoyed Kakashi's company, enjoyed trying to make the boy lighten up to him, and enjoyed telling others how cute he was. … But what he didn't enjoy was that with every meeting, Minato was continuously reminded of just how distant the boy was to him.

Sure they were living together now, but Kakashi was so independent. Really, there never seemed to be a need for Minato to be there at all.

"Have the two of you been getting along well?" Sarutobi asked politely as soon as the secretary ushered Minato into the office.

"The same," the blond answered ruefully.

Sarutobi could see the glum state Minato was in, not that the blond tried hard to hide it. In a matter of months, the old man could see Minato's parental love for Kakashi was growing tremendously, and Minato was so eager to be a good guardian to the boy. But it was obvious Kakashi hadn't responded to his love; the Hatake was always a bit on the stoic side. Still, the Hokage wasn't certain if Kakashi just wasn't as expressive as Minato had expected, or perhaps he'd already frozen his little heart due to his father's actions.

"Maybe I shouldn't have forced him to live with me?" Minato said hesitantly when Sarutobi didn't answer.

The old man shook his head at the idea. "No, that was the right move. Kakashi," the Hokage explained softly, "needs guidance. Especially in the dark times he's in now."

"Yes, but if he doesn't like living with me and he's only staying because he feels obliged to," Minato interrupted, "then wouldn't that be worse?"

The old man took a puff on his pipe before looking over at his shinobi. "What makes you think Kakashi wants to leave?" he asked curiously.

Minato rubbed a hand through his blond hair, letting out a miserable sigh. "He doesn't spend time in the Complex at all. I mean, I don't expect him to stay at the apartment for the whole day," the blond corrected, "but I only ever see him for breakfast, and he disappears completely until dinner. When I ask him where he's been, he just shrugs it off or gives me blatant excuses." Minato rubbed a weary hand over his eyes. "If that doesn't say that he doesn't want me around him, then I don't know what does."

The Hokage considered the problem critically before shaking his head. "Perhaps he only wants time to himself," Sarutobi suggested. "Kakashi has always been quite independent, and perhaps thinks he shouldn't bother you with his problems?"

"But maybe if Kakashi _really_ doesn't want me around-" Minato wanted to complain, but the Hokage interrupted him before he could start.

"The boy, as you've likely heard from Jiraiya and Sakumo, is a prodigy. It is a little known fact, but Kakashi is perhaps the greatest genius in Konoha of this current generation." The old man shook his head. "I fear, with all that has happened, the boy will not be able to keep a clear mind and do something he might regret. Kakashi is still young, and to lose someone so important to him so suddenly, his mind might not be able to accept it and he may be susceptible to suggestions from the wrong people." He let out a sigh, saddened by what he was going to say next.

"You are no doubt aware the villagers of Konoha have not been sparing to Sakumo after his 'disgrace', don't you Minato? If someone tried to turn Kakashi against this village or certain people, their manipulations might actually succeed if the boy is alone and vulnerable with his mental state as it is right now. The fact that you are willing to be by Kakashi's side shows him that he is not alone, that he's still loved."

"Maybe I'm not the right person for this job?" Minato asked. He wanted to be the right person – he wanted to help Kakashi so badly – but if the boy didn't like him...

The Hokage shook his head. "You, my boy, I trust immensely because you truly care for Kakashi. The fact that you are coming to me with these fears show how much you wish for him to be happy. Make sure Kakashi knows your feelings, and save the boy's heart before it is no longer possible."

The blond looked away, staring out the window, trying to imagine coming home to a smiling Kakashi, but all that was continuously flashing to mind was Kakashi's dark, eerie eyes, covered with a thick layer of pain. He wanted to save the boy, he honestly did, but could he really do it?

"Never forget that Kakashi is only a child, Minato," The Hokage stated as he watched the Jounin before him debate furiously with himself.

"I know," Minato responded distractedly. He nodded to himself as he heard the Hokage dismiss him, still unfocused, but feeling a smidgen better knowing the Hokage had so much trust that it would all work out in the end. The blond left the office with his mind filled with troubling thoughts, never noticing the ceramic masked shinobi slipping off from somewhere close by, heading the opposite direction. Never knowing that man was going to give his report to a third party.

Minato didn't know he had to be cautious of Danzou and his "disbanded" Root just yet, but eventually, Minato would learn. Because Danzou loved prodigies; especially young, untrained orphans he could mould to his liking.

* * *

_A/N: So, to repeat, at this point in THP, Root has already been disbanded. This is just Danzou being a creeper and scoping out children for his underground organisation now. :) Naruto-wiki merely stated: "Root was officially disbanded at some point in the past [...]" and when I was plotting out this part of the fic, I took 'some point in the past' as some point before Kakashi's time-ish._


	34. Uncertainty

_A/n: Trust me, you wouldn't have wanted this chapter last week; I deleted half the page and added a thousand words more because the first version was honestly quite half-arsed._

_Chapter 34: Uncertainty_

* * *

Despite having a child to care for now, Minato was a Konoha shinobi first and foremost. So, it didn't surprise Kakashi the slightest when the blond was called to the Hokage Tower for a mission not soon after Kakashi was finally settled in Minato's apartment.

Although, to be honest, Kakashi hadn't expected to be called along with Minato for the pre-mission briefing as well.

As Kakashi made his way towards the Hokage's office with Minato by his side, they boy allowed his mind to drift off, trying to remember all he knew about the missions Minato had once been deployed on. But it was to no avail; this was long before the six-year-old boy of decades ago actually had cared about the blond, had actually paid attention to Minato outside of the man's role as team commander. Well, Kakashi certainly cared now, and his lack of knowledge was beginning to diminish Kakashi's appreciation of his previous child-self even more than it had before. Even if the Kakashi of that time had been so bent on keeping the world around him at a distance, that was no excuse for him to be so self-absorbed and uncaring – especially towards Minato who always had so blatantly held Kakashi's wellbeing in the forefront of his mind. The least his past-child could have done was take note of his sensei's health from the missions he went on.

Now, in this present time, Kakashi had absolutely no idea how Minato's mission would turn out (assuming that he _did_ have this same missions as before) other than the fact that he would survive. This ignorance of his was making Kakashi's stomach flip, and it only increased as the clock ticked away, closer and closer to Minato's designated departure time.

In the Hokage Tower, the two of them reached the Hokage's doors easily, and was led inside just as quick. "Minato. Kakashi," the Hokage greeted as soon as the two walked through.

"Hokage-sama." They bowed in unison.

The Hokage had clearly been waiting for their arrival, as the stacks of unfiled papers on his desk were pushed aside to avoid obstructing his view from his incoming visitors. The old man's eyes watched as the two made their way into the office, eyes lingering contemplatively on both of them. Kakashi stood patiently by Minato's side, wondering the importance of his own presence in the office, as Sarutobi took a puff of his pipe before getting onto business. The Hokage's eyes seemed to focus directly on Kakashi as the man spoke in a voice that bordered soothing and apologetic, "Now, Kakashi, Minato, I know the two of you are just getting to know one another, but I'm afraid, Kakashi, I will have to pull your guardian for a mission."

Kakashi dipped his head into a nod. "I understand," the boy responded immediately, conditioned throughout the years to answer promptly to the Village Leader's direct orders without too much question. Kakashi watched as the Hokage looked consideringly over at him, as if expecting something more than Kakashi's quick acknowledgement. But the six-year-old had no clue what Sarutobi wanted. This situation was different from his past, from procedure, and Kakashi wasn't even familiar with what a normal six-year-old in his position would actually think. Minato was standing anxiously beside him, trying to channel feelings of placidity over at the younger boy. Clearly the blond knew what was going on, so, Kakashi supposed, it had to do with him. "I don't need a babysitter," Kakashi tried, because Minato seemed like someone without a lot of connection with child caretakers, and who knows, maybe he couldn't find one?

"I'm not suggesting you do."

Kakashi furrowed his brow. If that wasn't the case… Kakashi tilted his head, looking thoughtful as he continued speaking, regardless of the confusion, directing his gaze over at Minato because he knew very well Minato had been the root of this meeting. "I realise that I may seem too young to be alone, but your worries are unfounded. I can take care of myself; it wouldn't be the first time. I've always taken care of myself when my father left for missions in the past." Kakashi paused suddenly as his own words sunk in. _Oh._ Suddenly Kakashi knew exactly what this whole meeting was about.

_Sakumo's last mission._

"What resulted from your father's mission…" the Hokage softly began when Kakashi held quiet for much too long.

Kakashi clenched a hand tightly beside his thigh. "Yes sir," Kakashi interrupted abruptly. He wasn't sure what he was '_yes_'-ing to, but he just didn't want that sentence to continue anymore that it already had.

Minato twitched discreetly beside him, letting his arm brush over Kakashi's shoulder. Kakashi loosened his body, even though it hadn't been obviously tense to begin with, giving the blond a small smile in response. During this, Sarutobi looked away, undoubtedly giving the two a moment of family time, before he turned back to Kakashi a minute later. The old man spoke unassumingly, "I understand if you are wary missions, or Minato taking part in missions, but the chances of what had occurred and grown so unjustifiably repeating once more … Please, child, be at ease that such things won't happen to you again."

Kakashi could hear the Hokage choosing his words carefully, trying to curve his words so it they would not be a lie. Kakashi knew as well as Sarutobi did that people did not change overnight; if the same choice fell on another shinobi as it had to his father and the shinobi chose the same route, the results would've led to vilification as quickly as it once had. The truth about humans was that they were so damn unreasonable.

Kakashi closed his eyes, letting out a low breath. "I know, Hokage-sama," he said, because Sarutobi was trying his best to comfort whatever dread that the six-year-old was supposed to have without explicitly lying, and lingering on the fact that the Hokage was slipping unfairly through his promises with carefully worded assurances would have been impudent. "I know," Kakashi said once more, because he honestly knew _so much_. He knew there was a low probability of it happening again. He knew Sarutobi was as worried for him as Minato was. He knew he was acting too odd for a six-year-old, which only fed to Minato and Sarutobi's concern for his mental health. But above all, what Kakashi also knew was that should, on the off chance, he'd somehow affected the future enough that it _did_ lead to the result that the Hokage thought Kakashi was scared of, Kakashi's spirit would break and wither away until this second chance was nothing more than hell on earth for him.

A part of Kakashi's brain was certain he was only overreacting, but by this point his nerves were pulled taut into a strained tenseness that wouldn't relax, always mixing in a taint of fear with every idea that crossed his mind. Kakashi felt stuck in the middle of his so-called adventure, not sure if he'd changed enough for the future to diverge into a second path, or not enough so that the future he once knew was still somewhat on course – supposing that he _could _change the future, that was. And wasn't that last point just so damn infuriating?

Perhaps a majority of Kakashi's fear was actually coming from the nightmare that he wouldn't be able to do anything to fix the future when he needed to the most. Despite the small nudges Kakashi had tried to direct the course of his future, he still hadn't gotten proof that events to come were not set in stone.

Life was becoming confusing with so much uncertainty flowing in from the multiple presents _and _pasts, unlike the life he once had when the idea of time-travel had been so unthinkable to him.

Sarutobi was looking at Kakashi again while the boy had allowed his thoughts to roll off into numerous tangents. The old man's face was slowly pulling back into concern, like he was certain Kakashi was still in a ball of terror of what could happen to Minato on his next mission. Kakashi shook his head clear, finishing his sentence, "I know Minato is a shinobi of Konoha, and I have no reason to nor will I get in the way of his mission." It was barely anything similar to what had truly been floating through his mind, but Kakashi wanted to head towards the less depressing route of conversation if possible.

The Hokage held to Kakashi's gaze, preferring to see for himself the certainty of Kakashi's words, rather than hear Kakashi's half-truths. Kakashi held his face passive and his posture straight, trying not to let his unease flit through for the world to see. There was a silence before the old man sighed. He didn't seem as though he liked all that he saw on Kakashi's face. "Perhaps you do," Sarutobi began in a voice that gently suggested otherwise, letting his sentence hang. He let out a short sigh when Kakashi's expression didn't change. "Very well, then." He turned towards the blond. "Minato, you will join your team to set off tomorrow oh-five-hundred sharp."

"Yes'sir," Minato replied accordingly, but his cerulean eyes were on Kakashi, much like Sarutobi's own were.

Kakashi shot them both a strong smile, stretching obviously across his mask. The Hokage softened his gaze. "Kakashi, you know you are allowed in my office whenever you wish to speak to me, don't you?" the man asked.

"Thank you, sir," Kakashi answered. But his fears were nothing the Hokage could know of – not yet.

The Hokage nodded, "Very well." The old man tilted his head, giving Kakashi an informal dismissal as two Jounin entered the room at the same moment. "If you don't mind waiting outside a little while, Kakashi," Sarutobi said, "I will send Minato out as soon as I finish briefing his team." Kakashi nodded, turning on his heel. As he left the room, Kakashi could still feel the old Hokage's eyes lingering worriedly on his back, but Kakashi held strong.

**x**

Kakashi woke up early to see Minato off the next day. The blond hadn't said much the day before, perhaps accepting the judgement of the Hokage to be more accurate than what he knew himself about Kakashi and kids' temperament in general. Kakashi was grateful for it since he knew that the moment Minato started to voice any of his worries, Kakashi wasn't sure if the dam of fear he kept locked up so tightly in his chest would be able to hold, because everything that was making him restless at the moment revolved around that dear man.

The two of them were standing by the Village Gates at the present moment. Kakashi could see Minato talking to him – or rather, _at_ him, really; Kakashi wasn't paying his words any heed. Kakashi was sure Minato knew of his inattentiveness, but the blond continued talking regardless; he was certain Minato was doing it for his sake, hoping his voice would salve the boy's wounded fears.

"Kakashi?" Minato nudged gently, breaking from his longwinded rambling.

Kakashi's eyes flickered upwards. "Ah, nothing," he said plainly. Minato studied the little boy in front of him with cerulean eyes narrowed into a frown, but he soon continued whatever topic he had been previously talking about, when Kakashi didn't budge and only kept a tighter hold on his internal qualms.

It wasn't Kakashi's fault he felt so paranoid about the future. Kakashi didn't know what to do; Minato, as the future dictated, would do fine on his own. But the problem he kept coming back to circled around same questions: Kakashi hadn't tried to change anything major, but what _was_ major? What did one consider to be _major_? How did he know that just by being in Minato's life so early, he hadn't already changed Minato's fate of this mission? How sure was Kakashi that Minato wasn't going to _die_?

Maybe if Kakashi hadn't gone through the second loss of his father, he wouldn't have been this worried, because now, Kakashi saw what his so-called confidence was like. He'd been sure Sakumo was going to be fine (and yes, maybe he started to feel a bit nervous near the end, but under that, he'd honestly thought he'd already directed the future to a different branch on that Tree of Life with its multiple limbs that spread through all the world's possibilities) but Kakashi had been wrong about that. This time, Kakashi didn't know how strongly he could say he was 'sure' Minato would be fine, because he wasn't sure about anything anymore. And what was worse, he was starting to feel nervous like he had before his father's end - but this time more so due to his inability to trust the ever-shifting timeline, than anything - but still, look where that ended up when he ignored it. Kakashi didn't want to lose another member of his family from carelessness.

_Never_ again.

In the end, when Minato left, his motions were stiff and hesitant, continuously glancing back at the young boy bidding his guardian good luck. The two Jounin beside Minato arched their eyebrows at the blond's endearing actions, but the man never noticed, too fixated on his dear charge. Despite the slow beginning to the journey, the three Jounin eventually disappeared into the horizon. And by that time, Kakashi had made up his mind.

Dropping a clone with just the slightest puff of a smoky breeze, Kakashi slipped silently after the departing group. The two gate watchers never noticed a thing, because honestly, who expects anyone to sneak _out_ of the Village?


	35. Copy-cat

_A/n: So, uh, Minato's genin team - we have a picture of them, but do they have names? If not, then yay, I don't have to edit this chapter.  
And I suppose the battle scene is a bit wordy ... er, well, it's a learning process; hope I do better next battle scene, whenever that may be. _

_Chapter 35: Copy-cat_

* * *

It was supposed to be a simple recon mission.

Konoha had gotten word that the hostility between Hidden Leaf and Hidden Rock was only getting worse. There was growing certainty that the beginnings of another war was ready to sprout amidst their crumbling relationship (not that there ever had been one in the first place).

Minato and his team were despatched to find evidence for such claims of a possible war. Team Minato, as the Hokage called them, were made up of what was once Team Jiraiya. The other two Jounin on the blond's team, the brunette haired kunoichi Yuki with her distinct red hair-band, and Toshi who'd been teased as a kid for looking every bit like a monk, were Minato's old cell mate back when they were all Genin. The three of them got along and worked well with each other.

Minato never expected anything to go wrong on this mission with them by his side. But then again, when was _anything_ ever simple?

**x**

Their first mistake was stumbling onto an enemy camp not too far from Iwa. They'd seen the signs of a camp nearby when the three of them had first crossed the woods in that area, but none had expected the traps to be set in such a large radius.

A sort of silent alarm had likely been tripped, for Team Minato had no warning until they suddenly detected faint chakra signals approaching them in alarming speeds. There were three of them, Minato noted immediately, and glances over at Yuki and Toshi showed that they were equally aware.

As they suspected, not a heartbeat later, three Iwa nin suddenly appeared before them, weapons drawn. "Well well, sneaking into our land, Konoha-nin?" a man laughed, his Rock headband glinting under the sunlight.

That was all the preamble Team Minato received before a flurry of weapons were exchanged. The Konoha team retaliated equally as vicious, holding the competition steady, refusing to give in even an inch. And then the Rock ninjas got down to business. "_Doton: Doryūheki_ (Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall)" one of the Iwa-nin cried, hands flying into seals.

A slab of earth rose from the ground, carrying the enemy up until he was leveled with the forest behind him. From their position on the ground, looking up at the man, Minato, Yuki, and Toshi had to squint into the sunlight to make out the man's movements – it was a dire disadvantage. The area behind the enemy nin was unlike the clearing they had been lead into while exchanging kunai and shuriken; it was dense with trees, lining up behind the Iwa-nin like a natural defense from rear attacks.

Team Minato could only dash to the sides to avoid staring directly into the sunlight, but the Iwa-nin's two other comrades were already there ready to corner them back in.

It was significantly harder to dodge now, between the approaching two enemies and the one towering over them pelleting the ground below with any sharp implements he had on hand.

But they hadn't been promoted to Jounin for nothing; they could get out of this predicament quite easily with a quick bit of teamwork. "I'll take care of this," Yuki grinned, sharing a glance over to Minato who nodded briefly. "_Suiton: Takitsubo no Jutsu_ (Water Release: Waterfall Basin Technique)." A rush of water, like a tsunami wave, spat out towards the other two Rock nin who were amidst cornering Team Minato towards the slab of earth wall in a sort of triangular barrier, driving the enemy the other direction.

Minato immediately jumped onto his teammate's jutsu, running along the flow of water in a practiced movement. His cerulean eyes were focused intently on his targets, even as a corner of his mind started to worry about the tactics used against them. It was rather odd, Minato noted the second he thought about it, that the first ninja was doing nothing other than throwing sharp projectiles down at them. True the Iwa-nin was at an advantage with his elevated position, and that more times than not he was a more than a worthy distraction to worry about while also actively trying to avoid the other two enemy - Team Minato already been more than scratched up due to him -, but that Iwa-nin seemed to be doing so _little_ to help his comrades. Especially now while Yuki was successfully pushing the other two back.

Nearing his targets, the blond cleared his mind and allowed his focus to return entirely back on the battle in front him, dropping his curiosity for the moment. Minato clutched his right arm with his other hand, gathering chakra into a spinning swirl. Without warning, Minato spun sharply towards one of the two. The Rock ninja threw up thick, metal tonfas, which had been previously hidden on his person, into a defensive cross in front of him in the same quick moment to block the attack; he'd held them quite clumsily, likely because he'd not been expecting the blond to form a jutsu so quickly, but they were in place to bare the brute of the attack nevertheless.

"_Rasengan_," Minato murmured under his breath as he thrust his hand forwards.

Minato had finished this particular jutsu a couple months ago, and this seemed like a good place to test it in actual battle. He needed to work out the last little imperfections of it before moving on to the next stages he had planned for the technique, anyways. Minato watched carefully to the damage his spiralling sphere made, watching as the Iwa-nin's tonfas cracked and shattered like they weren't even there to begin with, flinging the man back in an impressive speed.

Cerulean eyes flickered towards his left, fixing his sights on the second shinobi before the first man had even hit the ground. The other enemy was already flipping through a long series of hand seal in anticipation of the _Rasengan_ by this point. He finished it just in time.

The two jutsu struck head on, a burst of chakra swelling in the surround air as raw energies collided. There was a momentary struggle, but Minato's _Rasengan_ was a dense sphere of chakra, bursting with supressed potential energy – its power was by far greater than the jutsu the Iwa-nin had performed. Like his partner, the second Rock ninja was thrown backwards into the ground.

For a mere second, Minato felt satisfaction bloat in his chest, but that dissipated just as quickly as a sudden harsh yell from behind had Minato whipping his head back around towards his teammates before he could confirm his opponent was indeed out of the battle.

The scene before him had the blond cursing under his breath. Thoughts and momentarily forgotten suspicions whirled back to life at the sight. The two he'd fought had been merely distraction, Minato's mind concluded tersely, seeing two new Iwa ninjas standing where the defeated two had previously been before Yuki had forced them back. These two quickly completed the triangular earth wall barrier around Yuki and Toshi like they had originally planned to in the beginning. The very first Iwa-nin they'd fought was still there, sitting on the earth wall he'd built, grinning viciously down on the Konoha-nin.

This was what he was waiting for, Minato realised abruptly. _It was a trap from the very beginning._

Shinobi – or rather intelligent shinobi - didn't waste time with villainous monologues of revealing their tricks, gloating over their captive. After all, a ninja could do a lot in a second, and a fight was not over until the enemy breathed their final breath. But Minato didn't need the Rock nin to revel in their failures anyways; the battle field spoke for itself.

The two new Iwa shinobi had been hidden underground the whole time, emerged the moment Minato stepped away from the group. The blond was almost surprised none of them realised them hiding there, but that explained the opening of the battle and how easily the three initial Iwa-nin allowed themselves to be detected as they approached Team Minato. The first three Rock ninja had deliberately supressed their chakra ineptly, compelling Team Minato to focus their attention on them while two others, properly supressing their chakra, sneaked into the battle field without anyone being the wiser. It was a plan to strike when the Leaf least expected it.

It was a brilliant strategy, Minato had to admit, but this was no time to be appreciating the enemy's tactics.

Minato leaped into action, pumping chakra into his legs to project himself back to his teammates. He didn't get far, as not soon after he'd started moving, a small handful of shuriken from behind lodged into his legs. Minato stumbled back onto the ground, eyes flickering behind himself even as his hands moved to dislodge the throwing stars while absentmindedly appreciating the protection his coarse shinobi pants gave him. His cerulean eyes darkened when he realised the attack came from the Iwa ninja he'd thrown back just a little while ago; clearly Minato had underestimated the strength of the shinobi's jutsu in order for the _Rasengan_'s power to be cushioned enough for the other man to be still conscious.

The blond's eyes sought out his teammates for a quick second as he growled under his breath. _He didn't have time for this!_

Minato twisted around, using his momentum to strengthen his punch as he lashed out towards the Iwa-nin who'd just gained on him. But that didn't hold him down for long.

And much, much too far away, the first Iwa nin was already performing his jutsu, and Minato was nowhere near to help._ "Doryū Shigure_ (Earth Showers)!" the low echo of the Rock-nin's voice resonanted through the trees. Sharp spikes of hardened earth shot towards the victims confined in the doryūheki. The attack poured down from all above them in a blindingly fast descent that promised no mercy.

Minato wasn't even close protect them, never mind making it there in time to stop it. "No!" Minato cried, trying not to let the sudden images of speared teammates cross his mind. But there was no way Yuki or Toshi could escape. Yuki had water affinity; it weak against earth, and she wouldn't be able to break through the earth barrier to escape in time. Toshi wasn't in a position any better than their kunoichi.

Minato tried to fight his way towards his teammates – his siblings, goddamit, because they'd been together since they were Genin, and he couldn't, couldn't let them down like this – but the showers of earth spears only took one ninja to perform, and the other two were already in front of him and leering in his face. Minato was outnumbered by three who took pleasure in blocking his way.

Minato swore desperately, hand clutching tightly to his kunai as he blocked rapid jabs his way. He slashed out, determined not to give in even as he was easily pushed back. Despite their hindering, Minato continuously persisted to push his way forward, even if it seemed so hopeless and futile and –

- and the blond tried not to react as a shiver suddenly shot down his spine at the feeling of concentrated chakra erupting by the earth cell, air crackling as though dense with electricity.

There was something oddly familiar about the feeling, but Minato pushed the thought aside, merely appreciating that little detail of familiarity as the reason why he'd snapped out of his surprise a second sooner than the enemy nin had - and that was a fact Minato took full advantage of.

The blond quickly disarmed one of the Iwa-nin while flinging another head-first into the earth wall cell they were guarding. Minato could only allow himself a quick peak at the situation over there, knowing the other two ninja wouldn't spare him anymore time before attacking, but it was enough time to see a flash of red darting into a freshly crumbled piece of wall and retreating out with Yuki and Toshi in tow.

The next thing he knew, a leg blocked his vision, causing the blond to jump backwards – but not before throwing a kunai at them.

The Iwa-nin ducked under it. "Missed," the man crooned. And then he was thrown off balance as the discreetly attached explosive tags went off.

Minato set a sharp jab to the back of the man's neck rendering him unconscious before turning to the next one, hand forming seals even as he turned. "_Fūton: Daitoppa _(Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)," the blond cried, letting blades of wind lash bitingly into the enemy's skin as it pushed him backwards. Before the Iwa ninja realised it, Minato rushed in, speed aided by the wind, piercing an array of kunai through the other ninja's back as he rushed by.

There was a solemn thud as the man dropped to the ground, but Minato paid it little heed, focus already frantically turning towards where his two teammates laid. He smelled blood, and lots of it, and if either Yuki or Toshi were dead… Minato pushed the thought to the side, carefully ignoring the strangling coil around his stomach at the idea as he continued to rush towards the two.

Minato's eyes sharpen into a critical gaze as he took in the sights that behold him.

Yuki and Toshi were out of the earth cell, breathing heavily and slumped together. They were bleeding though an alarming amount of punctured wounds, but nothing seemed too bad from Minato's current perspective. An unknown ninja with a blindingly bright red scarf around his face, stood defensively over them. Off to the side, Minato recognised the Iwa shinobi who he had flung over at the earth walls a little while ago, except now, he was covered with senbon. The man probably hadn't stayed unconscious from Minato's attack and had gotten up again to attack the unknown ninja, only to be killed permanently this time.

The scarfed ninja was currently facing off the Iwa-nin who had been the first to engage with Team Minato. This Rock ninja seemed like the leader of the group, now that Minato observed more carefully, noting the display of strength the man possessed that exceeded the level of the grunts he had been fighting off. The scarfed ninja seemed on par with him, but Minato could see a wound, harsh and deep, sliced in the front of his chest, slowing down the man's movements as the wound undoubtedly stun with his every action.

Minato rushed over to them with every inch of speed he possessed, hand already gathering chakra along the way. The scarfed ninja spared a quick glance at his glowing hand before jumping out of the way, behind the Iwa-nin to trap the enemy into Minato's direct line of attack.

For a second the remaining standing Iwa-nin looked like he was ready to turn around and escape through the seemingly safer route past the scarfed ninja, but then that scarfed ninja's hand started glowing as well, just as frighteningly as Minato's _Rasengan_. Minato felt the stinging pricks of lightning chakra accumulating as the other man concentrated the energy into an oddly similar ball of chakra, much like his own. After that, it took not even a minute to dispose of the remaining shinobi, trapped as he was between the two.

The moment the Iwa-nin dropped, Minato turned towards the other man. He kept his _Rasengan_ still swirling in his hand and his wary eyes fixed on the tell-tale contractions of the other man's muscles. Truthfully, Minato couldn't keep his _Rasengan_ up for much longer, but the other man didn't need to know of his fatigue.

But either way, there was no confrontation; the scarfed ninja only dropped his hands in response to Minato's careful scrutiny, letting the lightning ball abruptly fizz out of existence.

Minato contemplated for a second about keeping his jutsu up, for intimidation's sake, but there really was no point. The scarfed ninja seemed oddly compliant, and frankly, there was an old unspoken practice on laying down weapons when the other party had already done so – especially towards those who had yet to cause him (or his village) any harm.

Watching the scarfed ninja closely, the sunshine blond slowly let his own jutsu disperse in a slow manner, everything in his attitude saying that he was more than willing to form it again if the other man tried anything suspicious. The scarfed man didn't look too bothered from the hostility Minato showed him; honestly, he seemed to expect it, actually.

Minato slid up closer to the other man, his mind already categorising all he could about the unknown threat. His height was on par with Minato's own, as the blond stared eye-to-eye with the other man. His skin was pale, even more so, sandwiched between hair as dark as night, and a scarf so blindingly crimson. He had sinewy muscles that spoke of training, on a somewhat broad figure. "So, who might you be?" Minato asked in a casual tone.

As casual as Minato's voice sounded, the scarfed man seemed to know better than to trust it, as the man seemed to visibly force his posture to relax and appear harmless. "They call me the Copy-cat Ninja," the man said nonchalantly, after what appeared to be a second of consideration.

It was a named that seemed to come from nowhere. "Who is 'they'?" Minato demanded.

"Well, you know, _they_," the man reiterated, after a moment's pause.

"I've never heard of anyone called 'the Copy-cat Ninja'."

There was a hint of amusement in the man's tone that contrasted the sad shadow that suddenly cast over the Copy-cat Ninja's eyes as he spoke next. "Yes, well, you're behind times," he said idly. There was a pause. "Or maybe I may be too far ahead," the man muttered to himself much quieter. The man's voice was beginning to waver and his breathing was becoming more laboured by the minute. But even so, Minato could make out the anxious significance that the man seemed to hold to those words.

"Is that so?" Minato responded, his voice holding cautious indifference. The blond's cerulean eyes lowered, unable to help himself staring at the bleeding stomach wound the man before him was sporting.

Red-stained gloves clasped tighter over it in response to Minato's gaze. "Now, if you'll excuse me." The man turned around, shoulder tensed in a bunch.

"Wait," Minato started, feet already taking long strides towards the scarfed man. His hand was open, ready to grab him, hold him, lock him into submission until the man revealed who he was, or what his goals were. The bleeding shinobi's pleading eyes as he rotated his body and turned his head back to look at Minato, despite how much that _had_ to hurt with his stomach wound, gave Minato a pause.

"Do me a favour; check on your teammates. I hope they're alright."

The blond Jounin had a feeling that wasn't the favour the other shinobi actually wanted. His dark eyes had said it all when he had glanced back at Minato: "_Let me go; I won't do any harm."_

Minato was a fool for pausing at that look. Minato was going to be a fool for believing him. And yet he did. How could Minato not, after the man rescued his teammates from what had so nearly been their inevitable end? The man had done _nothing_ against Konoha or his team. (or at least, _not yet)_

"Fine." At the blond's begrudging nod, the Copy-cat ninja slowly slipped into the trees, traveling cautiously away from the battle ground as he clutched onto his bleeding wound. Minato knew he had plenty of chances to subdue to man, but he also knew the other man would've fought tooth and nail to escape if it came to that. Even with his _Rasengan_, that startlingly chilling ball of lightening chakra the Copy-cat had in his arsenal was a frightening jutsu to go up against. And coupled with the reason that he'd just saved two Leaf ninjas? Letting the man go seemed like the best option at the time.

Giving only a sparing glance at the man's retreating back as it disappeared into the trees, Minato turned away (never fully leaving his back open in case he'd judged the man wrong, of course) and kneeled besides his fallen (and thankfully still breathing) comrades, bandages already spilling from his hands.

**x**

Kakashi dropped his _henge_ the moment his feet touched Konoha soil. He didn't know what happened after he'd left Minato, but Kakashi knew he couldn't linger around if he wanted to have enough time to limp all the way back to Konoha without leaving bloody tracks in his wake, and sneak back to his room. Getting through the fence that surrounded Konoha wasn't too difficult; Kakashi had twenty-so years of knowledge of Village security, and it wasn't hard to recall security holes that he knew wouldn't be fixed until sometime in the future.

Kakashi was glad to remember that Minato's teleportation technique was yet to be perfected, when the boy managed to crawl into his room and slam his door shut in time, just moments before a hastily formed clone he'd situated near the proper Gate Entrance dispersed, informing him of Minato's arrival back to Konoha.

Minato, like Kakashi had expected him to, made a quick detour to the Namikaze Complex the movement he checked in. It wasn't proper procedure, per say, but then again, no rule said Minato _couldn't. _The blond quickened his pace back home, hoping to be able to spare the time to give Kakashi a quick '_hello, I'm home'_ before going back to debrief the mission. He hoped it would give the boy a peace of mind in case Kakashi was worried for Minato after what happened with his father.

When he got to the building, the apartment was cold and dark. Fear tugged at the blond's heart.

"Kakashi?" he called out into the dark, unlit apartment. "Kakashi?" A soft, muffled groan caught the man's ears as he edged closer to the young silver-haired boy's room. He knocked nervously on the door. "I'm back from my mission. Are you home, Kakashi?" he asked softly, anxiety building with every quiet second.

Before Minato did anything drastic, like breaking the door down, a sharp tone finally hissed out. "I'm here, I'm fine. Welcome home. ...now go away."

Minato froze at the voice. "You sound a bit …" _Frigid? Irate?_ But he couldn't say that to the boy.

"Don't you have to report to the Hokage?" the strained voice called out once more from the other side on the door.

Minato was suddenly hyperaware of himself and just how strongly of blood he was reeking of, as the scent seemed to fill the whole house. Was the smell bothering Kakashi, Minato wondered? Was it reminding him too much of his father, and was that why he was so harshly trying to get Minato to leave? The blond desperately tried to push away the thought that Kakashi'd been like this _before _he'd entered, because Minato wanted every excuse he could get. Minato couldn't stand it if Kakashi hated him.

"Kakashi, I-" Minato tried to begin, before the boy's insistent voice call out once more.

"_Please _go away, I'm … sleeping." Minato glance out the window, noting it was _just_ evening. There was a pause. "Come back tomorrow," Kakashi's low voice finally said when the blond didn't move from his doorway.

With a reluctant nod, and a heavy heart, Minato eventually left for the hospital where his teammates had been dismissed towards. He tried to cast this event from his mind, determined to focus on the mission again, like the professional shinobi he was. But honestly, Minato was only human, and Kakashi's actions left a sharp, sharp pain in his chest.


	36. Resemblance

_Chapter 36: __Resemblance_

* * *

Shoving unrelated problems to the back of his mind, Minato tried to recall his focus on the mission as he entered the Hokage's office. He'd hurried to the Hokage Tower as soon as he had dismissed his team from the hospital to rest up, insisting that he would be fine alone to give the Hokage a general overview of their mission before they wrote up the mission report later. At his admittance into the office, Minato bowed with a "Hokage-sama," on his lips.

The blond's voice held a steady tone, but every time Minato thought of Yuki and Toshi, thought of how easily he could've lost his old cell-mates, his heart lurched painfully in his chest. Every thought revolved around the fact that if it weren't for that scarfed '_They call me the Copy-cat Ninja'_ he would've had to come home alone, bringing back solemn news to their families.

The Hokage seemed to sense Minato's attention slipping, so he cleared his throat loudly and got straight to the point. "What happened on the mission, Minato?" he probed.

The blond closed his eyes. "The mission started out fine," Minato began slowly. The 'but' could be heard even before he said it, "but then we ran into trouble near Hidden Rock. There was a camp – we never realised they had the place so securely trapped – and they detected us before we even expected it."

Minato told the Hokage of the battle, every little advantage and blunder his team had made. When he then made it to the part where his teammates almost died, Minato buried his head into his hand, rubbing at it like he was trying to erase the memories away. "I heard Toshi cry out. Yuki and Toshi, they were stuck in that earth cell the Iwa-nin had made and I was too far away to help, let alone to get them out; especially not with the other three ninjas trying to keep me away. I wasn't even any closer to them when I heard the Iwa-nin cry out his _Doryū Shigure_ (Earth Showers) technique."

Gruesome flashes of skewered teammates flickered behind Minato's eyes. In the end it hadn't happened, but the sights, spurred by his imagination at hearing Yuki and Toshi's pained screams wouldn't go away. "I was losing hope that I would make it in time to save them," Minato confessed to the Hokage. Minato had been previously trying to work on the Second Hokage's _Flying Thunder God Technique_ before this whole mission began, but he's stuck it on the back burner in favour of his _Rasengan_ which was down to its final stages already. Minato couldn't help but wonder how the battle would've turned out if he _hadn't_ pushed it aside and had worked on the _Hiraishin _instead. Perhaps he might have gotten it down by this time? Perhaps he would've been able to use it and would've gotten to his teammates, unlike how stuck and utterly useless he ended up? "I was losing all hope, and then that was when _he _appeared - the '_Copy-cat Ninja'_."

The rest of the story was almost a blur to Minato. All he remembered was feeling frantic, desperately hoping his friends were still alive. Minato could recall flashes of brilliant red from the Copy-cat's scarf from the glimpses he'd caught whenever he managed to spare a glance their way. Then there was also the constant prickling on his skin from a discharge of electricity sparking in the air from the other man's devastatingly strong _jutsu_.

"I didn't know who he was, but he saved them. Saved _us_." Minato didn't mention how the shinobi got away; he had a feeling Sarutobi knew exactly how and why.

The Hokage hummed thoughtfully before catching the blond's eyes into a serious stare. "Did he remind you of anyone?"

Minato remembered feeling too amazed, too overwhelmed, to even look at the man so critically other than taking note of his basic appearance. The man's features reminded him of no one he knew, but then again, half of it _was_ covered by a scarf.

"Maybe," The outline of the pale face projected in Minato's mind. Those dark, haunted eyes reflected something so similar to the pain familiar blue-greys also carried. "… perhaps a bit like," The sturdy build of his twenty-or-so adult face, and sparking taste of the chakra seemed to niggle at something in Minato's memory, "like … Sakumo?"

Minato tried to pull up the image he had of his late friend the last time he saw him alive, and compared it to the unknown ninja. Yes, it _was_ somewhat similar. If Minato removed the scarf, lengthen and coloured his black-hair silver, the man was almost a near splitting image. There were some discrepancies like the man's younger age, and his leaner muscle tone, but he was much too similar to Sakumo to disregard, Minato noted. There was an undeniable closeness underlying the man's appearance that Minato couldn't unsee now that he's realised it.

"Sakumo," Sarutobi repeated softly, gravely, like whispering into the wind. He leaned back on his chair, fingers curled around his pipe as he placed it on his lips.

"Correct, Hokage-sama."

The old man leaned forwards again, staring deep into Minato's cerulean eyes. "Were you aware Sakumo had contact with this man as well?"

Shock jolted through the Jounin as Minato stood stiffer, and eyes widened larger. "Did he look similar previously, or did he steal Sakumo's qualities to hide behind?" he asked. If Minato's voice sounded desperately urgent, the Hokage never commented, knowing the blond's need to know was more for Kakashi's sake than for mere curiosity.

"I'm afraid I never asked, and if Sakumo had noticed, he'd never commented on it," the Hokage said disappointedly. There was a moment like the old man was about to continue speaking before he'd closed his mouth, not to worry his Jounin with the information that Sakumo _had_ given him. – like the fact that the unknown ninja had possibly been in contact with Kakashi. However, "Keep an eye out if Kakashi meets anyone you haven't met before," the Hokage cautioned.

Sharp blue eyes snapped upwards, "Is there suspicion the Copy-cat will try to interact with me … with us?"

"Concrete suspicion, no," the Hokage replied evenly, before pausing to collect his thoughts. "On the other hand, perhaps the proximity of the weeks between Kakashi's astounding summoning feat (eight on his _first_ try, Jiraiya had muttered in disbelief) and the Copy-cat's first appearance had not been a mere coincidence," the Hokage mused softly to himself. The sentence had been too low for Minato to hear anything but snippets of mumbling, and the Hokage continued on in a louder commanding voice before Minato had a chance to string them into coherent sentences. "Twice this Copy-cat ninja has had contact with a Konoha team." The fact that he'd saved their lives both times could not be forgotten._ "_I think it would be in Konoha's best interest to find him to question, oppose to the 'look out' warning we have on him currently." The old man looked up to catch the blond's eyes, "It will be drafted as a mission promptly, but until then, keep the knowledge to yourself." Sarutobi gave Minato a dismissing nod.

Minato dipped his head into a polite bow as he turned towards the door. The blond shuffled off slowly, lingered in the office for a moment – nothing too obviously, but the Hokage picked up on it right away. "Is there a problem?" Sarutobi asked gently, voice dropping back towards the loving grandpa spectrum now that the official business was over.

Minato gave the old man an embarrassed grimace, running a nervous hand through his blond hair, looking reluctant to bother the Hokage. There was only a slight moment's more of hesitation before the man finally gave in and asked. "It's just that," Minato began, "how … Do you know how Kakashi was when I was gone?" the man rushed out hastily.

The Hokage frowned thoughtfully, lifting the pipe out of his mouth. The old man studied his shinobi. "Is something the matter with young Kakashi?" Sarutobi asked.

The blond shuffled his feet, feeling like a nervous father. "He's refusing to see me," the man blurted out.

Sarutobi frowned at Minato's words, because honestly, they made no sense. Kakashi was not one to ignore people – at least not to his knowledge. "I've asked my Anbu to check up on Kakashi a few times while you were gone. They'd watched him from afar, mainly passing glances, but they have reported nothing wrong," the old man confessed, "Kakashi spent most of the time lounging at home." It was nothing that explained Kakashi's current attitude. "Are you certain he is not merely happy to see you back?"

Minato rolled the idea in his mind for a while, attempting to make it work because he loved that answer so much more than reality. However, he couldn't delude himself - especially when it wasn't true. "I don't believe so. Kakashi shut himself in his room, and … well, snapped at me to leave him alone and refused to come out. He _did_ tell me to come back tomorrow, but somehow I have a sinking feeling tomorrow will be the same."

"I see. I would like to help, Minato, but I am unsure myself as to what brought on this behaviour," the Hokage answered, unable to give the blond a clearer insight to the problem.

Minato bowed deeply. "Thank you, Hokage-sama. Sorry to bother you." The blond turned around, heading for the door, mind clouded with miserable thoughts.

He'd asked the Hokage on the off chance the old man could shed some light onto Kakashi's sudden refusal to see him. He got what he wanted ... but not what he _really _wanted. He didn't want to hear how Kakashi spent the whole time in the apartment, when on a typical day, when Minato _wasn't_ away on missions, the boy gladly spent his day everywhere _except_. He didn't want to hear that there was no other reason for Kakashi to refuse to see him other than the fact that he just didn't want to.

It was a horrible wish to hope that perhaps something had happened to Kakashi while he was gone, forcing the boy to act this way. Were that the case, Minato would find relief in knowing that Kakashi's attitude was caused by external factors and _not him_. But it wasn't_. _It _was _him, and … maybe Minato's wavering doubt had been right all along: Kakashi just really didn't like him.

Minato rubbed a hand across his weary eyes. "Tomorrow," he muttered to himself, "Maybe Kakashi will be fine tomorrow, coming out of his room with a happy smile, and this would've been all a silly misunderstanding." The man sighed, "Until then..." Minato would try to hold up his optimistic outlook until then.


End file.
